Striker
by heyheymonet
Summary: After Ingrid Stark discovers who her father truly is, she is whisked off to Stark Tower to live with him and the Avengers. Adventure ensues after a freak lab accident results in her making the biggest decision in her life; Will Ingrid become the next Avenger? Set before and after AoU. The Flash crossover in later chapters for a bit. Rights go to their respective owners.
1. Chapter 1

Ingrid had lived in Leighton, Massachusetts her entire life. It was a small, quaint town without much to do or see, but it was home. Ingrid lived with her father, Tony Strike in a nice home in the nice part of town. Tony wasn't home much. He was often away for work for long periods of time but when he was home, life was good. She always thought she would be in Leighton her entire life, she loved her ordinary life, her ordinary school, her ordinary friends and her ordinary father. Little did Ingrid know, Tony Strike was anything but ordinary, in fact, Tony Strike wasn't even his real name! The truth was, Tony Strike was Tony Stark. Yes, _the_ Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man and little did he know, Ingrid was't going to be fooled by his charade forever.

"Dad!" Ingrid rushed down the large wooden staircase in her house to the front door. Her long brown hair flowed behind her. She was just in the middle of brushing it when she heard the door open, signifying that her dad was home from his latest trip.

"Hey, Grid, how are you?" Tony winced in pain as he hugged his daughter. Mysterious cuts and bruises covered his body.

"Oh my god, dad! What happened?" Ingrid pulled back when she saw a huge bandage covering most of his forearm. Her father occasionally returned from his trips with something wrong but he always passed it off as "being clumsy". That may have fooled her when she was 10, but Ingrid was 17 now, soon to be 18. She knew the difference between a scraped knee from tripping on the sidewalk and a gash on is arm that looked like a knife wound.

"Oh… Um… Sushi making accident?" Tony looked sheepishly at Ingrid. He should have prepared answers to Ingrid's questions beforehand. The truth was, Tony had just gotten back from saving the world from a certain god of mischief and a shit ton of aliens.

Ingrid sighed deeply and gave her father another hug. "One day I'm going to figure you out, dad."

"I hope you never have to." Tony muttered into her shoulder.

One week later, Tony had to make an emergency run to the grocery store. They were making stew that night and they realized that they were out of salt. Ingrid noticed that in her father's haste, he left his cell phone at home. " _Now maybe I can get some answers"_ Ingrid thought slyly. She was just about to put in his password (it was _always_ "ingrid97") when it started to ring. The contact name said "Capcicle". She had no idea who it was but answered it anyway.

"Hello?" She asked, almost too enthusiastically. She thought that this person might be able to shed some life on what was going on in her father's life.

 _"Umm… This is Steve Rogers… Is this someone answering Tony's phone for him or do I have the wrong number?"_

"No! This is Tony's phone. I'm Ingrid, his daughter. Should I take a message for him?"

 _"Excuse me? Daughter? Steve, you must have called the wrong Tony!"_ Another voice belonging to a woman echoed across the line.

"This is Tony Strike's phone. Your name in his contacts was "Capcicle". I don't know if that helps at all." Ingrid scrunched up her nose like she always did when she was confused.

 _"Well that's what he calls me… Umm, Natasha what's going on and what does she mean by Strike?"_ That last sentence sounded like it had tried to be muffled by a hand on the speaker but the sound still went through. Her father had kept her a secret from his friends, but why?

After a few moments of silence, a third voice came through the phone, _"Hi, Ingrid is it? I'm Bruce Banner,"_ A silent alarm went off in her head. Ingrid loved science and Bruce's paper on the properties of all the different kinds of radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum was one of her favourites. _"We all work with your father and out of all our years of knowing him, he never mentioned he had a daughter and his name isn't Tony Strike, it's Tony Stark."_

Ingrid stumbled back and into the granite countertops in her kitchen. Thousands of thoughts were racing through her head. Had everything she thought she knew about her father been a lie? If the people on the phone were telling the truth, that meant her name wasn't actually Ingrid Strike, it was Ingrid Stark.

 _"Ingrid are you still there?"_ Bruce spoke with concern in his soft voice. She heard more people in the background on the other end of the phone. a lot of astonished gasps and whispers made their way to her ears.

"Ingrid?" Tony Stark was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, grocery bags in hand. He looked terrified when he saw her with his phone in her hand. "Who are you talking to?"

Ingrid had tears in her eyes and stared at him with a disgusted look on her face. "Here. It's for you." She said as she pushed the phone into his hands and stormed up the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- I decided to upload the next chapter today because the first one was so short and didn't really get into much. The real action isn't going to start until chapter four or five because I want everyone to be able to get to know Ingrid considering she is a new character. So, without further ado, here's chapter two!**

Ingrid was wrapped in a cocoon of furry blankets underneath her goose feather comforter. She remembered asking the sales lady five times if any geese were harmed in the making of it. She wouldn't be able to bring herself to buy if it so. Luckily the worker answered with a firm no each time. The last time she was in bed like this was when her ex boyfriend, Zach, broke up with her. All she wanted then was for her dad to hug her and tell her everything would be ok, but now all Ingrid wanted was for him to stay away. He was practically a stranger to her now.

"Grid? Can I come in?" Ingrid tried to say no and express her anger towards her father but she just couldn't. Even though she was mad it didn't mean that she didn't love him.

Ingrid sighed, "Yes." She then proceeded to bury herself deeper under the blankets.

"I know you're really mad and I know you're really confused but before you go full on guilt trip on me I'm going to do my best to explain what I can, Ok?

Ingrid stuck a thumbs up out from under the blankets, telling him to proceed.

"Ok, so. Our last names are not Strike, it's Stark. I chose Strike because I thought it sounded cool. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and protect the world against threats like aliens and the reason why I don't let you watch TV is that I don't want you to see me in action on the news. I am a billionaire because I used to be CEO of Stark Industries which your grandfather founded, it makes weapons for the military and the reason why I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Is that I developed a suit of armour that does cool stuff and saves people's lives and explodes stuff, the public calls me Iron Man. The People you heard on the phone were Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, and Bruce Banner, but more commonly known as Captain America, Black Widow, and the Hulk. There is more of us, like Clint who is known as Hawkeye and Thor who is, well, Thor. There is more that you should know and trust me, you will but we don't have time right now, I kept you here so you'd stay out of the lime light as a kid and after I became Iron Man I made a lot of enemies so it became for your safety but now it's time that you come with me to New York now that you know all this."

Ingrid threw the blankets off her head, "Are you expecting me to just except all this? I just found out that my entire life is a lie and that my father is a billionaire who fights off evil aliens while wearing a metal suit for his job! You want me to just pack up all my stuff and move to New York?

"Pretty much."

Ingrid waited a few moments and poked her out from under the covers once again, "Well, ok then." She climbed out of bed and walked to her closet so she could box up her clothes. She knew that there was no point in fight with her dad. Plus, she had to admit, living with a bunch of Superheroes in New York did sound a little bit cool.

Ingrid and Tony were standing in the backyard of their house, surrounded by boxes that they had rushed to pack up. Ingrid looked at her father, he seemed to be waiting for something.

"So is there a moving truck coming or something?" Ingrid asked her father.

"Not exactly. You see, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to meet you and he decided that their was no better way to do it then to bring a giant ass helicopter into the backyard of a house in a small town to help them move to New York." Tony said sarcastically.

Before she had time to respond, Ingrid's breath was taken away when she saw a helicopter zooming through the sky, if it could even be called that! The thing was massive!

"That's the a helipad, The real one is at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. It's basically a floating hotel with room for a few planes." Tony shouted. The noise from the propellers was deafening.

Eventually it made a landing in the large field behind Ingrid and Tony's home. Ingrid stared, dumbstruck at the "small" helipad looked ginormous! Ingrid and Tony watched a man in all black get off of the thing and walk towards them. As he got closer she noticed that an eyepatch covered his right eye.

"Mr. Stark… Miss Stark…" The man dressed in black shook both their hands and lead them back to the helipad.

"Umm… Who _are_ you exactly?" Asked Ingrid. Her father was obviously well acquainted with him she had no clue who the man was.

"I'm director Nick Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I work with your father." Fury replied in a commanding voice.

Fury turned to Tony and started asking him thousands of questions. He looked angry. Probably because he didn't know everything about the man who had pretty high security clearance.

The helipad moved fast despite it's size and it reached New York in what felt like no time at all. Ingrid expected that Fury would come with them but he dropped them off and left. He said that their was "urgent business" for him to take care of in the capital.

Tony's driver picked up the father and daughter and dropped them off at the Stark Tower.

"Woah. This belongs to you?" Gasped Ingrid as she stepped out of the car and gazed at the giant skyscraper before her.

"Well it's got my name on it." Ingrid shot her father a sly grin as he said that,

" _Our_ name on." She corrected him. He half smiled back.

Tony held the door open and welcomed his daughter inside. He then lead his daughter over to a private elevator which had a screen beside it that scanned his finger print. The doors slid open and the two stepped inside the elevator. That's when everything finally caught up with Ingrid and she realized what was going on.

"Holy shit!" Ingrid stumbled back and leaned against one of the walls on the fast moving elevator, "This is actually happening."

"I knew you were acting too calmly earlier." Groaned Tony, head in his hands.

 **A/N- Ok! So there's chapter two! I'll probably post a chapter twice a week and I'm still in the process of writing to story so reviews of what you want to see happen would be great!**


	3. Chapter 3

Tony was able to eventually calm his daughter down. He made sure that all of the avengers were busy as too not cause Ingrid anymore stress. After all her tears had dried up, Tony handed Ingrid a glass filled with champagne. Tony had never been strict with alcohol and besides, a little bubbly never hurt anyone.

"What's this for?" Ingrid smiled weakly.

"I, am proposing a toast. A toast to new beginnings and fresh starts!" Proclaimed Tony triumphantly. They clinked glasses and they downed the golden drink in one sip.

"Would it be ok if I went up to my room, dad? Ingrid asked apologetically. It was getting a bit late and she had one hell of a day.

"Of course." Tony smiled at his daughter with a warmth he only was able to express to her. "Go up two floors and it's the room at the end of the hall."

"Thanks." Ingrid kissed her father on the cheek and began to make her way towards the glass elevator. Ingrid had never felt more tired in her life but the excitement from getting to check out her new bedroom gave her a little bit of energy.

Once the elevator reached her floor, she made her way to the end of a long hallway, she was almost there when suddenly she was blocked by a figure stepping out of the room beside hers. He obviously didn't notice her presence considering the room beside his had always been empty, so imagine the shock he got when he turned around and saw Tony Stark's secret daughter mere inches away from him.

"E-Excuse me please." Ingrid stammered. The tall blonde had frightened her when he appeared out of what seemed like nowhere.

Steve Rogers stood there dumbstruck. The girl standing before him looked so much like her father it was almost spooky. "No, really it's my fault. No one ever comes down this hallways since I'm the only one with a room in it, until now it seems." Steve flashed Ingrid a nervous grin

Ingrid smiled back, "It was you that I talked to on the phone, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, sorry about messing up your life a bit. I'm Steve, by the way, Steve Rogers." Steve held out his hand hesitantly. Ingrid accepted it and gave it a firm shake, a skill that her father taught her.

"Well, Mr. Rogers it is a pleasure to meet you, I'm Ingrid. Good to know my neighbour is friendly. My dad told me a little bit about all of the "Avengers" who live here and frankly, some of them sound kind of terrifying." Ingrid let out a nervous laugh.

"Wow. You may look like your father but you certainly don't act like him." Steve smiled at Ingrid. He found himself warming up to her quickly, "As for the other Avengers, they really aren't that bad. Except for the fact that they are probably watching us from the security cameras right now." Steve noticed her terrified face, "They were really excited to meet you and don't worry, bedrooms are camera free." He said with a small blush.

Ingrid smiled back and walked slowly into her room, "See you around, Captain." she gave Steve a small salute and closed her door. Steve blushed harder and looked down at his feet. " _He certainly is old fashioned, isn't he?"_ Ingrid thought to herself.

Ingrid looked around her new room, it was huge! It had a living room, bedroom, and a full kitchen, _"These must be apartments for the Avengers."_ Ingrid thought to herself as she flopped down on the large couch. After spending a bit of time there, Ingrid went to check out her bedroom. She was please to find that all of her stuff had been brought there and set up for her, "Who did all of this?" She thought aloud.

"I did, Miss Stark." Came a cool, mechanical voice out of nowhere.

"Who are you? Where are you?" Asked Ingrid nervously.

"I am J.A.R.V.I.S." the voice replied, "Mr. Stark created me as his lab partner and household helper."

"So you're A.I? Cool." Ingrid knew her father was good with machines, but this was incredible.

Ingrid spent the rest of the night laying in bed and texting her friends from Leighton. She had to explain to them that her father had to move to New York for his job and that it was incredibly sudden. She hoped that everyone would buy that story. She didn't feel like making the headline of Leighton's daily newspaper. This would be the story of the century there!

Ingrid was just as brilliant as her father, so naturally she had enough credits to graduate high school by grade ten, but continued attending school so she wouldn't get bored. She had emailed her principal saying how sorry she was about being last minute but needed to have her diploma. That way she wouldn't have to continue with her lessons in New York. She finally fell asleep at about 2:00am and slept in until the faint smell of freshly cooked bacon wafted into her room. _"Steve must be cooking"_ She thought to herself.

Ingrid put on a house coat and slippers and made her way to her own kitchen to see if there was any food in the cupboard. She found a box of cereal but no milk so she went to see if her neighbour had some she could borrow.

Ingrid knocked on his door, "Come in!" Yelled Steve from the other side. Ingrid turned the knob and walked in. His suite was identical to Ingrid's when it came to size and shape, but it was decorated very differently. Old photographs from his time in the war were hung up everywhere.

Steve stood at the kitchen stove in a pair of grey sweatpants. He was pouring pancake batter into a pan when he saw her, "Good morning." He said with a smile and wave.

"Morning, I was just wondering if you had any milk I could use."

"I'm afraid I just used up the rest of it, there should be some in the communal kitchen though. I would offer you some pancakes but I'm afraid that I didn't make enough." Replied Steve with a frown.

"It's Ok, maybe some other time." Ingrid replied with a small smile.

Ingrid made her way to the large kitchen. She thought she was alone until a face poked out from behind a newspaper, "You must be Ingrid."

"You're Bruce Banner! I am such a huge fan!" Ingrid beamed at the scientist.

"Oh. Well tell the other guy when you see him." Bruce looked back down at his newspaper, a little disappointed.

"I'm talking about your research papers!" Ingrid pushed down the newspaper.

"You are?" Bruce asked, very enthusiastically, "Usually when a young person says that they are a fan, they are talking about the green guy."

"Well, dad never let me watch TV and my internet access was restricted when he was away, so I really don't know anything about that guy other than what my dad told me on the way over." Ingrid said.

"So you like science?" Bruce folded up his newspaper and gestured for her to sit down.

"Yep! I got all the credits I needed to graduate in grade ten, but I decided to stay and focus on S.T.E.M. stuff. I want to be an engineer."

"Well, how would you like to help me and your father out in the lab today?" Bruce asked sincerely.

Ingrid was just about to respond with an excited nod, but Tony interrupted, "Definitely not!" He said as he stormed into the room, "It's way too dangerous in that lab, we produce enough radioactive waste each day to wipe out all of New York!"

"Ok, now I really want to help!" Ingrid's eyes were wide with excitement.

Bruce looked at Tony and Ingrid with an amused look his face, "Wow, Tony, I never pegged you as the over protective parent type."

"I'm not over protective at all. I'm just reasonable." Tony folded his arms across his chest, "I doubt that many parents would be all "gung ho" over their kids playing with nuclear bombs."

"He does have a point," Ingrid looked back at Bruce, "Last week he told me all about how concerned he was that I haven't come home high before."

"I'm just saying that experimenting with recreational drugs is very common at your age and that if you were using I would much rather you tell me about it than doing it behind my back." Tony said blatantly.

Bruce turned his attention towards Ingrid, again, "You had one heck of a childhood, didn't you?"

Ingrid looked back at her dad and smiled, "I sure did."

 **A/N- Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up soon and I'm really excited about the ideas I have for it! Don't forget to give me your input on what you want to see happen next!**

 **-Maddy**


	4. Chapter 4

Ingrid decided that she would spend the day exploring the tower. There was still many people that she wanted to meet. She made her way through the modern building, stopping at any room that looked interesting. Eventually she made her way to what looked like a gym. She peered inside and saw two people sparing. Ingrid walked in to check it out. She had probably only taken three steps into the room when the two fighters whipped their heads around to see Ingrid.

"So you're Tony Stark's best kept secret, huh?" A red headed woman said to her, coldly.

Ingrid didn't know how to respond, "I guess." She said nervously, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and looking down at her feet.

"Don't mind her," the man sparing with the red head said to Ingrid, "Natasha's just mad that someone was smart enough to be able to keep a secret from her."

Natasha shot him a glare, "So you think a secret as big as a _child_ is ok to have when you work for S.H.I.E.L.D?"

The man rolled his eyes and walked towards Ingrid, "I'm Clint, it's nice to meet you." Clint shook Ingrid's hand and gave her a friendly smile, Ingrid smiled back.

"Thanks. Sorry for interrupting by the way, I was just exploring the tower and this room looked kinda cool." Ingrid gestured around the large facility. It didn't just have a sparring ring, it also contained a large rock climbing wall, a few trampolines, a running track, targets, and a few other things that Ingrid didn't know the function of.

"No problem, this space is open for everyone to use. wouldn't be the called the public gym if it wasn't." by this time, Natasha had made her way over to where Ingrid and Clint were standing.

"So, how to you like it here so far?" Natasha asked, the coldness had started to disappear from her voice.

"It's… Different, I guess. I met Steve last night and Bruce this morning, they seem nice which is good."

Natasha noticed Ingrid eying the sparring ring, "You want to try?" She asked with a smirk.

"Um, sure." Ingrid said innocently to Natasha.

The two stepped into the ring, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." Natasha said reassuringly.

"No need for that." Ingrid said with a smirk. Natasha opened her mouth to say something but Ingrid was already upon her. Ingrid had taken gymnastics as a kid and when she got older Tony had her take self defence lessons. For some reason he thought krav maga, one of the deadliest types of fighting in the world, was a great hobby for a 12 year old girl.

Ingrid kept up with Natasha and dodged all of her attempted blows easily. Eventually Ingrid pounced on the red head and had her in a choke hold she could easily snap Natasha's neck from.

"Give up?" Ingrid taunted and laughed.

"Not… Y- Yet…" Natasha wheezed when suddenly she flipped Ingrid off her back in one quick move. Ingrid landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"You ok?" Natasha offered Ingrid her hand. There were no traces for hostility in her voice now.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Ingrid laughed as she accepted Natasha'a hand.

"Wow. That was actually kind of amazing." Clint said as he walked over to the ring, "We're not getting to old for this, are we, Nat?"

"Looks like you just gave Clint a midlife crisis in his 30s. I'm impressed." Natasha said jokingly. The three of them laughed and started to make their way to the shared living room.

When they got there they saw Bruce and Tony sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch, talking to a very worried looking Steve.

"Nat…" Steve looked up when they walked in, "I think we've found him."

Natasha rushed over to Steve and put a hand on his shoulder, "Is he ok?" She asked urgently.

"What's going on?" Ingrid whispered to Clint. The solum look on everyone's faces worried her.

Clint took her aside, "Did you ever learn about Steve in history class or something?" he asked

"Yeah, him and all the other Howling Commandos. They're heroes." Ingrid said.

"Then you were probably told that only one of them lost their life during the war."

"Yeah, James Barnes fell off a moving train. What's he got to do with anything?" Ingrid was getting more and more confused.

"He didn't die. S.H.I.E.L.D's biggest enemy, H.Y.D.R.A. found him and experimented on him, trying to recreate the formula that turned Steve into a super soldier. After they had success they erased his memories to make him the world's deadliest assassin."

"So they're worried he's going to do something bad?" Ingrid asked.

"Sort of. Last time Steve saw him he may have done something that is making his memories come back. Banner suspects that this isn't good for his mental health and thinks he's a danger to himself."

"I see…" Ingrid bit her lip like she always did when she was thinking, "Are they able to bring him here? I'm sure you could all help him."

"That's what we decided on doing if this situation ever arose. We just need to find a way to get him here without emotional distress."

Steve walked over to where Ingrid and Clint were talking, "We're leaving as soon as possible." Steve then turned to Ingrid, "I'm afraid that you can't come with us. You understand, right?"

"Of course, I know I'm not a superhero and I won't try to be." Ingrid replied with a kind look.

"I'll see you later, Grid." Tony said as he gave his daughter a tight hug, "Stay out of trouble, Ok?"

"Stop it, dad. It's me who should be worrying about you." Ingrid joked.

After everyone said goodbye, Ingrid took the empty tower as an opportunity to go check out the lab. She couldn't help but gasp when she entered the large room. It was filled with thing even she didn't understand, _"Finally, a real challenge."_ Ingrid mused to herself. The idea of a room full of machines with unknown uses excited her.

Ingrid walked around, stopping occasionally to examine any particularly interesting looking gadgets. Eventually, she found her father's desk. It was messy and covered in loose papers and old coffee mugs. Nothing caught her eye until she noticed a photograph that was taped on the computer monitor. She plucked it off to get a closer look.

"Mom…" She breathed when she realized who it was. The picture was of her mother and father at the top of the empire state building. Ingrid didn't know much about her mom. She had died after giving birth to Ingrid so she never really knew her, but Ingrid still liked to think that she was looking out for her.

Ingrid leaned back to rest against the wall when she slipped on a puddle of oil, as she fell she reached for the closest thing she could find, a small lever. Suddenly, a door opened into a room with a huge pool of a mysterious liquid. Alarms were blaring, which didn't help her situation at all as she continued to fall into it. That's when it all went dark.

 **A/N- I hope you all liked this chapter and thank you so much for all the reviews and suggestions! I promise to start writing longer chapters!**


	5. Chapter 5

One week later, Ingrid awoke with a start. She was in an all white room in an all white hospital gown. She looked to her left and saw Steve Rogers, asleep in a chair beside her bed. Ingrid looked at the clock, 4:46AM it read.

"Steve?" Ingrid croaked out, her throat dry and raspy.

Steve awoke with a jolt, "Ingrid! You're awake!" Steve had gotten up from his chair and was kneeling at her bedside.

"Your friend… Did you find him?" Ingrid asked in a concerned voice.

"He… He got away…" Steve looked away as he said it, "But that doesn't matter, what matters is that you've finally woken up and it's the one time your dad hasn't been in here." A faint smile appeared on Steve's lips.

"What happened to me?" Ingrid furrowed her brows, trying to remember.

"Remember when your dad was talking about all the radioactive they produced? Well, you somehow managed to fall into their containment unit and survive. No one know's how you did it, you were they for at least 20 minutes until Tony was able to get you out. You've been asleep for about a week now."

"Holy shit." Murmured Ingrid, "Dad is going to kill me." Ingrid mustered a laugh and Steve joined in with a chuckle.

"I'm going to go get Bruce. He's sort of an expert on this stuff." Steve patted Ingrid's hand and got up and left the room. A few minutes later, he returned with Dr. Banner and Natasha, Clint, Tony, and a tall, muscular man in strange armour.

"Ingrid! Oh my god I thought I you were going to die!" Tony was immediately at her bedside. He gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead and held onto her hand.

"Well, Miss Stark, you are one lucky kid. That much exposure to radioactive substances should have killed you. It was almost as much as I was exposed to and I really should have died." Bruce chuckled.

"And you would have, if it wasn't for the medicine Thor brought from Asgard." Clint said, gesturing to the tall stranger.

"Lady Ingrid, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. It's unfortunate that we had to meet under such horrible circumstances." Thor bowed and kissed Ingrid's hand.

The group caught Ingrid up on what happened while she was asleep. Everyone had been away on missions except for Bruce, Tony, and Steve who took turns watching Ingrid incase she took a turn for the worse.

"Now that you're awake, you should be fine to leave in about 24 hours. You need to regain your strength." Bruce said as he fiddled with a dial on the machine that was tracking Ingrid's heart rate.

"Which means that she's fine and we have that mission you've been putting off." Natasha said as she nudged Tony.

"Ok, bossy-pants, we'll leave in an hour." Tony then directed his attention to his daughter, "Ok, Grid. I've got to go. I promise I'll be back in a few days. I love you, alright?"

"Implied." Ingrid smiled at her father and kissed his cheek. After that, everyone left the room and Ingrid fell into a deep sleep.

The next time Ingrid woke up, a nurse told her that she was cleared to leave. Ingrid left the room, still in her hospital gown and made her way to the elevator and pressed the button to her floor. Ingrid was walking through the shared living room when she noticed one of the cleaning staff that came in once a month, up on a tall ladder, cleaning the large light. She said hello which startled the man. The ladder swayed and he grabbed onto the nearest surface, the light. Ingrid heard a snapping noise as it began to fall. She had no time to run away so she held up her hands, trying to shield herself the best she screamed as it came closer and closer. Ingrid she felt a tingling sensation run through her entire body when suddenly, what looked like silver flames, shot out of her hands, blasting the falling light away.

Ingrid looked up and screamed. By then, Steve, Clint, Bruce, and Thor had made they're way over to her. The worker got up from the ground and ran to the elevator.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Ingrid screamed in fear. Steve ran to her side to help her up, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" She shrieked, "I don't want to hurt you." Tears were streaming down her face now. Her once brown eyes were now a fierce silver, but were still wide with fear.

Clint, Bruce, and Thor had now made their way over to her, no one knew how to react. They kneeled around her until Bruce spoke up, "The radiation in the lab was from a previous experiment. I should have expected this to happen." Bruce said quietly.

"What's going to happen to me?" Ingrid asked meekly.

"I honestly don't know." Bruce answered truthfully.

Eventually Ingrid got out of the fetal position she had assumed on the floor as to allow Steve to carry her up to her room. They were silent the entire way up, her head was buried in his chest. Silent tears left a stain on the breast of his t-shirt. Once they reached Ingrid's room he tucked her into bed. It was late at night by that point.

Steve patted her hand, "I'll be next door if you need me." He then realized that she was already asleep, "Goodnight." He said as he kissed the top of her head. He smoothed her long, brow hair and exited the room, closing the door softly.

While it may have be calm and quiet upstairs, it was chaos on the floor below Ingrid. Tony and Natasha were away which meant that Ingrid's father and the most reasonable third party in the tower were away on a mission and couldn't be contacted for a few days. This left Thor, Clint, Bruce and Steve to deal with a 17 year old girl who had just adapted some weird skills after falling in a pool of radioactive waste. Not the situation they wanted to be in, especially since they decided telling S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't the best idea. Tensions were already running high so they figured it would be better to not add and fuel to the fire.

"I could bring Lady Ingrid to Asgard, we might have something there to heal her affliction." Thor said while swinging Mjölnir nervously.

"No, she isn't sick! The radiation has effected her very being itself. Besides, we don't know if she's stable enough to make the trip." Bruce paced across the floor.

"What are we going to tell Tony?" Moaned Clint.

"The truth. It's not like it's our fault anyway and she seems to be acting normal, well, as normal as is expected of her right now…" Bruce said as he bit his thumb nail.

"Look, we can sit around all day, trying to think up ways to cover up her powers, or, we can do what we can for everyone's safety. _Her_ safety." Steve stood up from his place on the couch, "We need to train her. Show her how to control her abilities. That's what S.H.I.E.L.D. did for us and we turned out fine."

"So you want us to turn her into an Avenger? A killer?" Bruce looked at Steve with a glare that was a cross between disappointment and disgust.

Clint jumped up from his seat, "If it's worth anything, she's already quite capable of killing, even before the accident! You should have seen her sparing with Natasha! I-" He stopped when given a 'now isn't the time' look from Thor and sat back down.

"Shall I go in search for Mr. Stark and Lady Romanov?" Thor asked.

"No, we can't interrupt their mission. We need to take care of her until Tony comes back and he can decide if she will be trained." Bruce motioned for Thor to stay.

"Seriously? She's an adult. She stopped being a child as soon as she stepped foot in this tower and we have to hope that Tony understands that she can make decisions for herself." Steve turned towards the elevator and started walking, "I'm going to go check on her now."

Clint cocked his head to the side and smiled, "Huh." He said.

"What is it?" Bruce asked, obviously ticked off.

"Nothing, I just never thought Steve would be able to move on after Peggy. Looks like I was wrong." Clint grinned.

Ingrid woke up to sunshine streaming through her window. She got up and made her way over to see the view. Her right hand lightly clutched the delicate curtain. It seemed like a perfect morning. Then Ingrid caught a glimpse of herself in the window, instead of her normal soft brown eyes, a pair of wild silver ones peered back at her. Startled, Ingrid stumbled back into her bed. She closed her eyes and let out a whimper when the past day's events caught up with her, "Why me." She whispered aloud to herself with a sniffle.

"Hello?" A knock sounded at the door to her room.

"Yes, come in." Ingrid pushed the beginnings of tears out of her eyes and sat up on her bed.

"Sorry to bother you, Lady Ingrid, but the rest thought that I would be the best equipped to ask you this considering I know you the least." The god sat his large, muscular frame down on Ingrid's bed. He looked very out of place in his suit of armour on the soft white bedsheets.

"Oh, well ask away. Also, you can just call me Ingrid. 'Lady' sounds a bit to proper for me." Ingrid offered him the best smile she could muster.

"Of course… Ingrid." Thor smiled back, then switched to a slightly more serious tone, "As you understand, you are a bit… Different… And we wanted to know how you wanted to handle this. You have two options, the first one is to just do your best to surpass your powers, not speak of them and do whatever you can to lead a normal life. The second choice is to get training, learn to control your powers and use them for good."

"You mean, be like you guys. Fight bad guys, save lives?" Ingrid asked hesitantly.

"Essentially, yes. We would have to access your abilities and make sure it's possible for you to help us of course, but, if deemed fit; we would ask you to join the initiative."

"Wow." Ingrid tucked her knees into her chest, "When the light almost fell on me the other day and I saw what I could do, I was terrified. I don't want to keep living in fear of accidentally hurting someone." Ingrid looked Thor in the eyes, "I need to gain control."

"You start in an hour." Thor said to her as he got up. Ingrid's breathing quickened. She had been at the tower for only two day and she just had to fall into a pit of radioactive liquid. Now, a week later, she was going to learn how to be a hero.

Ingrid moaned, "I did not sign up for this."

 **A/N- New chapter is up already! This story has very much changed from what I first expected it to be like but hey, I like where it's going! Don't forget to review! I read all of you suggestions and this story is very heavily influenced on them so leaving a review is always a great idea whether it's a character idea, plot suggestion, or just something that you like or don't like about the story. Thanks again!**

 **-Maddy**


	6. Chapter 6

Ingrid spent that day in the gym. First thing she did was spar with Steve. He may be a super soldier but Ingrid's lean frame allowed her to dodge punches and move quickly in the small space, but when he did hit her, it hurt, "Why are we doing this?" Ingrid heaved over and groaned. She was exhausted from all the fighting, "It's not like this is going to help gain control, in fact, all I feel is out of control."

"When you agreed to letting us help you control yourself, you also agreed to standard SHIELD training." Ingrid noticed how differently Steve acted while sparing. While fighting, the soft spoken, mild mannered, and all around 40s gentleman was gone. This Steve was confident and commanding, but deep down he was still the kind and thoughtful Steve that Ingrid trusted with her life. "Again!" He barked, gesturing for her to stand up an fight.

After what seemed like forever, Ingrid felt like she was going to collapse from exhaustion. After getting her ass handed to her by Steve, Ingrid nearly collapsed. As she sat herself down on the edge of the ring, she felt herself start to slip away. Once she had sat down, she realized how "pent up" she felt, almost like when you realize that you had been holding your breath for no reason. She took a few deep breaths but it didn't help, that's when it happened. She went to push herself up off the floor when she fell onto her knees. silver smoke came off her in shockwaves. She immediately fell back. Ingrid felt terrified, yet the release brought her into a tranquil state.

Steve rushed over to her side, "Maybe we should take a break." Ingrid said with heavy breaths."

Steve looked around, the shock waves had knocked over everything within seven feet of her, "Good idea he said." He then picked her up and brought her to Bruce's lab.

"Your body is producing mass amounts of energy. If left pent up, it will relieve itself like it did back in the gym. The longer it stays in, the more damage it causes." Bruce said while typing into his tablet.

"But I wasn't full of energy, I was exhausted from fighting!" Ingrid sat up on the examination table.

"It's not your body itself that needs to be exercised, it's the powers the radiation has given you. They need to be let out, that's the best I can explain it." Bruce fiddled with one of the wires connected to Ingrid's body, then pulled them all off. "They only thing you can do is learn to control your new abilities so you can safely release them without killing anybody"

"Well how am I supposed to do that?" Ingrid was getting annoyed now. "A few weeks ago I was living a perfectly normal life and now I'm basically a ticking time bomb! I just want it all to stop!" Ingrid slammed her fist on the examination table, when she lifted up her hand she noticed a huge dent on the table. "Fuck." She mumbled to herself before running to the elevator and entering her room.

"Please tell me Tony's getting back soon." Clint stood from his chair in the corner. "I can't deal with a hormonal and deadly teenager for much longer."

"Speak for yourself, I find Ingrid's fits of rage rather inspiring!" Thor said in a loud voice, well I guess that would be his normal voice.

"Hey guys," Bruce voiced over the intercom. "I've got some good news! Ingrid, you'll want to hear this."

In a few minutes everyone had gathered around a very excited looking Bruce in the lab. "What's going on, Banner? I haven't seen you look this excited since you went to see Steven Hawking speak live." Clint joked.

"Well I have a very good reason! Ingrid, the energy factory in your body won't be open for long, they reason for the whole silver fire thing was just your body trying to expel the radioactive energy from your body."

"That's great, because when I slammed my bedroom door it kinda sorta did break off." Ingrid said sheepishly.

"Um, well, your body is going through stages right now." Bruce cut in.

"Woah, relax, I got the birds and the bees talk in health class in grade six. I know what the stages are." Ingrid said sarcastically. Clint chuckled to himself.

"Not those kind of body stages, Ingrid. I'm talking about different stages your body is going through to get rid of the energy." Bruce gave her a fatherly look. "I ran some tests which mean that you don't have to worry about pent of energy explosions and soon super strength will be a thing of the past."

"Judging by the look on your face I feel like there's a 'but' to this." Ingrid said disappointedly.

"Yes, well you are going to continue to shift through different ways to expel the energy to find the most efficient way. Unfortunately the final shift will be permanent and judging by my calculations, the next one will be the last."

Everyone in the room shuffled uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, Ingrid. If only I hadn't called your dad's phone that day you wouldn't have found out and wouldn't be here in this mess." Steve put his hand on Ingrid's shoulder. He looked heartbroken.

"Steve, don't you dare blame this on yourself. It was only a matter of time before I figured out my dad's secret, I am a genius after all." Ingrid tried to lighten the mood with a joke and smile.

"I agree with Ingrid! Come, let us drink and be merry!" Thor pulled Ingrid into a bone crushing hug.

Ingrid let out her first genuine laugh in a long time. "I'll second that motion!"

"Woah there, I'm just at the drinking age so please explain to me how this is legal." Steve chased after the group with a frightened look.

"Relax, I'm Tony Stark's daughter. I'm not new to alcohol." Ingrid looked back at Steve with a laugh. "Besides, aren't you technically about seventy years above age?"

"I don't like to get into the technicalities." Steve let out a small laughed and joined his friends.

"That's good, because if we did, his last date would make him look like a pedophile." Natasha said dryly as she and Tony walked into the shared living room where the bar was.

"Dad!" Ingrid ran into her father's arm and gave him a hug.

"Grid… Crushing… Bones… Can't… Breath!" Tony gave a look of immense pain.

"Dad I am so sorry! You see the accident had a few… side effects."

"SIDE EFFECTS? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? BANNER PLEASE DON'T TELL ME MY DAUGHTER IS GOING TO GROW ANOTHER HEAD!" Tony gathered up his strength and grabbed the collar of Bruce's shirt.

"I don't think you want to threaten me like that, Tony. I would prefer to not turn green today." Bruce said as calmly as possible. "Now if you would let me go I'd be happy to go get the files I wrote."

"That can wait till later, Bruce! I want a drink!" Ingrid whined playfully.

"Well as far as I can tell, we've both had one heck of a few days. In other words, I'll get the glasses." Tony softened when he noticed that his daughter was acting fine.

"You certainly are your father's daughter." Mused Clint, nudging Ingrid.

"You can't be raised by my dad and not want a drink every now and then." Ingrid nudged back, only her nudged turned into a shove that knocked him over.

Chances are, every time the Avengers drink together, it's going to end in Asgardian liquor. "So you're telling me that the accident is interfering with my buzz?" Ingrid looked at Bruce with a sad face. She didn't drink to get drunk, but it was still fun once in awhile.

"Don't worry, Ingrid. This just means that you're like me. If you want, you can have some of my drink." Thor offered Ingrid a flask. "Just make sure you don't drink any more than a sip. You may be powerful, but I've never met a mortal who could finish a cup and live to tell the tale." Thor let out a hearty laugh.

Thor was too late, Ingrid was already halfway through the the flask when it was knocked out of her hand. "No!" Thor yelled.

"Relax… I'm fine." Ingrid giggled. "Wow this stuff acts fast. It tastes good too."

"Incredible. Looks like the only time you need to worry about drunk driving is when Ingrid is with Thor, Tony." Bruce said to Tony, not realizing that he was fast asleep with his head resting on the bar.

"Well, it's getting late. I'm heading up stairs." Steve yawned and finished his beer. the clock read 12:38.

"Me too!" Ingrid got up from her seat. She stumbled a little but the alcohol already seemed to be loosing it's effect on her.

The elevator ride to their rooms was silent. After walking down their shared corridor, They went to go to their separate rooms. "Goodnight, Ingrid." Steve said with a smile.

"Goodnight, Steve." Ingrid gave the soldier a small peck on the cheek and Steve turned a bright shade of red. Lucky for him, Ingrid was already in her room and didn't notice.

Ingrid changed into her pyjamas, which were basically just an XXXL t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Comfort over style was Ingrid's state of mind when it came to pjs. She went to check her phone before plugging it in for the night. There were a couple texts from her friend's back in Leighton. Apparently, her ex boyfriend, Zach had gotten a brand new car for his 18th birthday and completely wrecked it the first time he took it out for a ride. " _That's what you get for being a cheater."_ Ingrid giggled. After responding to those texts, she noticed one from Steve.

" _Don't forget about training tomorrow morning!"_ It read. Ingrid groaned and pulled the coverers over her head and fell into a deep sleep. She knew that she was going to need the rest.

The next day was a blur, literally. Clint had gotten up that Saturday morning to go for a run when he saw a flash of silver in his peripheral vision. He quickly and quietly pulled a hand gun from a concealed pocket in his pants. Suddenly, the streak zoomed directly infront of him and knocked the weapon right out of his hand. Startled, he ran towards the emergency button, which sent a signal throughout the house to warn everyone of an intruder.

"Stop!" A voice echoed around Clint. He whipped his head around just as he was about to press the button. He tried to pin point where the voice was coming from. "It's just me, Clint! It's Ingrid!" the voice echoed through the room again.

The streak of silver reappeared again and circled Clint until it slowed down to a stop. There stood a confused yet excited Ingrid in a black tank top and black shorts. "What happened to you?" Clint asked, not that shocked considering what he had seen the girl do earlier that week.

"I guess my body found an effective way so get rid of all the excess energy." Ingrid grinned widely. This was obviously being the most enjoyable ability that she had developed over the past few days.

"So you now you have super speed. That could be useful." Clint was clearly impressed by Ingrid's new skill.

"INGRID!" Steve's voice rang from down the hallway. "You can't hide forever!"

"Got to go! I'm trying to escape Steve's training class. We've been at it since six this morning." Ingrid rolled her eyes and zoomed into the gym. She was able to sprint fast enough to make to the top of the wall, where she swung onto a ceiling rafter.

An out of breath Steve Rogers rushed past Clint and into the gym. Ingrid laughed at him from her perch. "Don't make me come get you!" Yelled Steve, he was obviously a bit pissed by this point.

Ingrid laughed again, "I'd like to see you try!"

The rest of that morning was spent by the Avengers (minus Tony, who was still asleep) taking turns trying to get Ingrid down. It wasn't until Thor flew himself up into the rafters using his hammer that she was caught. by this point, everyone was in heaps of laughter from watching the others try to climb the smooth wall to reach the young Stark.

"What do you say we skip the rest of training for today, Steve?" Ingrid said to him after coming down.

Steve was now in a better mood. "Sure, but don't think that you can goof off again tomorrow." He ruffled her hair playfully.

After that, the group went to wake off Tony to show off Ingrid's new and permanent power. Later, they all went out to dinner at a restaurant that Tony booked for the night to celebrate his daughter. It was the best day they had all had in a long time.

 **A/N- Yay! New chapter! The next one I post is going to take place about a year or two later and continue into the Age of Ultron storyline, I'm really excited about some of the ideas that I've got right now, but that does not mean I don't care about how you want it to turn out so don't forget to review!**

 **-Maddy**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N- Just a heads up that this chapter is set to be at the beginning of Age of Ultron! Please read the author's note at the end!**

 _Two years later_

S

"Loki's sceptre must be here, Strucker wouldn't be able to mount his defence without it." Steve yelled into the bluetooth communicator so the other Avengers would be able to hear him from their various positions. "Stark, we are going to need you to get inside."

"Which one?" Tony said.

"You, Tony!" Steve yelled back as he flung his shield into an approaching tank. Ingrid Stark had officially joined the Avenges program a few months ago after completing her official SHIELD training at age twenty. Everyone was still getting used to having two Starks out on the field.

"Clint's been hit!" Natasha said into the bluetooth. "We won't be able to get an Evac for awhile, Striker, can you cover him?" Ingrid started using the Alias Striker after becoming an Avenger. She said it was "symbolic" because it payed homage to her old life as Ingrid Strike and represented the evolution she went through to become to person she was today.

"Already there!" Ingrid had continued to get faster and faster as her training continued. When she sprinted you couldn't even see her. Once Ingrid reached Clint, she immediately ripped a piece of fabric off his shirt and had him hold it to the wound as she guarded the area. Before he could warn her, a streak of greyish blue knocked Ingrid over. Her silver eyes widened when she realized it could be no one other than a speedster like herself.

Ingrid glanced over at Clint, her eyes were wide with urgency. He gave her a reassuring nod, permission to go after whoever knocked her over.

Ingrid waited until the streak returned, and started off running normally. She hoped he wouldn't realize that she also had super speed so she could trick him into lowering his guard. After he circled her a few times, her hypothesis rang true. Then she ran.

Ingrid had caught the other speedster off guard. He had never seen anyone with abilities like his, so imagine his surprise when he found himself being bowled over by a girl with the most incredible eyes he had ever seen. Her long pale fingers held his shoulder firmly on the ground, her long hair, once in a sleek bun, had loose tendrils hanging down that ever so slightly brushed his face. "Who are you and what's your goddamned deal?" Ingrid hissed at him.

"Depends on who's asking." He replied with a devilish grin.

"You can call me Striker, however, I'm the one who's got you in a pretty compromising position right now, so if I were you, I'd answer the question."

"Touché." The speedster smirked. The fierceness in the girl's eyes was mesmerizing. "I'm Pietro and I'm just doing my job. Now tell me your real name." Ingrid was frustrated. She picked him up by the collar and pushed him against the tree.

"I'm giving you one more chance. I've taken out more enemy agents in a few months than you have in a lifetime. I'm only doing this for you because I've never met anyone else like me before." Ingrid immediately regretted saying the last part. It made her sound vulnerable.

"Well if you're going to kill me, at least give me the pleasure of learning the name of a pretty girl like you, Striker." Pietro looked her dead in the eye as he spoke. Ingrid did her best to surpass the redness burning at her ears.

"How about a deal? I tell you my name, you give me information." Ingrid hoped the negotiation lessons that Natasha gave her would pay off. She needed to know HYDRA's plan. Pietro gave her slight nod. "I'm Ingrid. Ingrid Stark." Pietro's smirk was replaced my a look of true rage when Ingrid spoke her last name.

"The devil has a daughter." He spat at Ingrid. "I was going to kill him, but perhaps the children of the people he killed, should kill the child of the killer." He gave her a look of pure hatred.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ingrid tightened her grip on the Sokovian.

"When my sister and I were only ten years old, a bomb fell on our apartment while we were having dinner with our parents. The first shell went off, killing my parents and trapping my sister and I in the remains of our own home. Before we could be rescued, another shell fell onto the building. We waited, but it never went off. Every time something shifted in the rouble I thought it was going to set it off, but it never did. Instead, for three days, we sat there with nothing to look at but look at the bomb that I though was going to kill us. There was only one thing written on that bomb and that was Stark Industries." Pietro said Stark like it was the greatest insult in the world.

Ingrid had unknowingly loosened her grip on the speedster while he told her the story. Pietro used this opportunity to loosen himself from her grasp. He grabbed Ingrid by the waist and hoisted her body over his shoulder, this was a big mistake on his part. Pietro had completely misjudged Ingrid's fighting abilities, from her position she was able to reach down far enough to grab his leg and flip him over. Ingrid then got up and sprinted to where her team was regrouping.

"Ingrid, we've got the sceptre. Let's go." Steve gripped his best friend's shoulder when she arrived at the location of the Quinjet. Steve and Ingrid had grown very close during the time Ingrid had lived at the tower. At only three years apart, Ingrid and Steve both felt comfort in having a friend who was as young as them. It was always a bit weird when everyone else was old enough to be your parent.

"Like hell we need to go. Speedy pants has a some beef to squash with the Starks." Ingrid ushered them all into the jet. Pietro came zooming into sight with a petite brunette with large eyes who must have been his sister. Ingrid closed the door immediately as to not let them find their way in.

"Did you get a Chance to read her, Wanda?" Pietro asked his twin urgently as the jet lifted off the snowy ground.

"Yes," Wanda cocked her head to the side. "She's not how I suspected."

"What do you mean?" Pietro asked, bending his knees slightly to look her in the eyes.

"She… She's trying to understand us. She feels empathy." Wanda looked at her brother with a concerned face. "What if we've been wrong about Tony Stark this whole time? If he could raise his daughter to have the kind thoughts that she has, he can't be all bad, can he?"

"I don't know, Wanda." Pietro scratched his head and looked around.

"You really annoy her, brother." Wanda smiled ever so slightly. Being telepathic was fun sometimes.

S

A few days later, Tony and Ingrid threw a party to celebrate that they had retrieved Loki's sceptre.

"How kind of you to host such a magnificent celebratory feast, Man of Iron!" Boomed Thor. For once he wasn't wearing his usual suit of armour. Instead he was dressed in typical Midgardian clothes that Ingrid had picked out for him.

"You know how much I love compliments, but you have to give this one to Ingrid. She planned the whole thing. All I did was swipe the credit card." Tony pulled his daughter into a tight embrace.

Ingrid laughed as he father twirled her around. Her short, black cocktail dress flared out as she spun. She looked absolutely beautiful. After regaining her balance, she saw Steve enter the party. "Steve!" She called out as she ran over to him. Her peep toe maroon heels clicked across the floor. The extra hight they gave her put the top of her head at eye level for the super soldier.

"You look great, doll!" Steve placed a small kiss on Ingrid's hand and offered her his arm. They walked through the party with linked arms, stopping occasionally to say hi to friends from SHIELD.

Tony spotted his daughter and Captain America looking comfortable on the large couch. "Psst! Barton!" Tony beckoned the archer over. "What's going on with Ingrid and Cap?" He looked horrified.

Clint snorted with laughter. "They obviously like each other."

"Um… No." Tony shook his head with a disbelieving laugh, "That's impossible."

"I'm serious. I'll bet you 50 bucks that they're together by the end of the party." Clint looked at Tony with an amused smirk. Tony was having none of it.

A few hours later, all the guests had left the party. The Avengers lounged around the couch. "Come on man, it's a trick! It's gotten nothing to do with worthiness, it's probably finger print recognition." Clint gestured towards Mjölnir.

"Well then by all means." Thor laughed and motioned for Clint to try to lift the hammer. The avengers took turns trying to lift it, to no avail. Eventually it was Steve's turn. Thor thought everyone was to busy laughing to notice it budge slightly, and they were. Except Ingrid, she suppressed a laugh.

"Ingrid, why don't you try?" Agent Maria Hill smiled at her.

"No thanks. I doubt that I'd be able to lift it, even if I was worthy." Ingrid responded, causing a small chuckle to pass through the group.

"What about you, Nat?" Bruce looked across the table to the red head.

"That's not a question I need answered."

The Avengers continued to laugh and chat together, sharing stories from recent missions and showing off battle scars. Suddenly, a hoarse voice rang through the room, "Worthy… None of you are worthy… You're all killers." A broken member of Tony's Iron Legion appeared and stumbled towards them. That's when all hell broke loose.

 **A/N- Thanks for reading and putting up with my writing! Reading your reviews gives me so much joy so don't for get to leave one, do you think I should stick to the AoU storyline or just skip that movie and take the characters that were given and put them in a plot of my own? Obviously Pietro would still be alive and the Avengers would still be together!**

 **Thanks again, -Maddy**


	8. Important!

Sorry that this isn't a chapter, but I just wanted to give all of you wonderful people a heads up that the next chapter will be a bit of a crossover! After the battle of Sokovia, all of the Avengers are taking some time off and Ingrid is working at S.T.A.R. Labs from The Flash! I'm really sorry if you know nothing about the show or you don't like the characters, but I just thought that they all fit really well into the story!

If you haven't seen the show and want to be able to understand what's happening a bit more, there are a few nifty wikipedia articles out there that give some good character descriptions. I will only be using season one Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco and I promise that if you don't like them they will not be around for long. After the next chapter they will probably on be mentioned!

I love you!

~Maddy


	9. Chapter 8

The threat of Ultron had started and ended in less than a month, but it felt like an eternity. The team decided to take a break after to regroup themselves and let the wounds heal. Ingrid had been living in the Malibu home with her father for a few months, but then left to go to Central City to apply for an internship at S.T.A.R. Labs, knowing the technology they produced could rival her father's.

"Ingrid can you pass me the molecular distorter?" Cisco asked from across the table.

"Sure thing." Ingrid passed the device to her friend and coworker. She loved working at the lab. She had never been around so many people her age who had the same understanding and appreciation for science and technology.

Caitlin walked into the lab, clipboard in hand. "Hey, Ingrid in honour of your one year anniversary of working here, we thought it would be nice to go out for dinner." Caitlin gave her a big smile.

"I'd love that!" Ingrid flashed an equally big smile back. Suddenly, her phone buzzed.

"Is it from the Avengers?" Cisco asked eagerly.

Ingrid laughed, "Nope, just Barry. He said he's on his way." Your coworkers were fascinated when they found out you were a part of the Avengers Initiative, especially Cisco. " _Maybe I'll get dad to visit soon. They'd love to meet him."_ Ingrid thought to herself.

A streak of light red light zoomed into the lab. Barry Allen walked towards Ingrid and gave her a kiss on the cheek. They had started dating two months after she had started working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Ingrid loved Barry with all her heart, she really did! However, she still felt like she had some unresolved business with Steve. "Hey, we're going out for dinner tonight." She said with a bright smile. When she came to Central City, she read stories about a masked hero named The Flash. After learning it was the friendly guy who was always visiting the lab, Ingrid was instantly smitten with the man who understood her more than she did herself.

"Sounds good! I'll race you back to the apartment!" Barry grinned.

"You're on." Ingrid smiled.

"How about The Melting Pot at 6:00?" Caitlin asked the group, there wasn't much point in asking, they all loved that restaurant.

Everyone nodded in agreement as expected, then Ingrid and Barry took off. They shared a small apartment not far from the lab. Tony had bought Ingrid a large penthouse overlooking the city, but it felt weird having all that space to herself. That's when she bought the small studio. Barry moved in a few months later. They had been living together for about a month and a half now.

The two speedsters had some time to kill before dinner so they sat around and did some work. Ingrid tinkered with a new form of battery she was working on and Barry poured over some police reports. "So I was thinking," Ingrid said.

"That's never a good sign." Barry smiled, the overused joke put a smirk on his girlfriend's face.

"Ha ha very funny." Ingrid put down her project, "I was thinking of inviting my dad to the city, bring him to the lab, introduce you to him."

"Awesome, I'd love to meet him." Barry gave Ingrid a loving smile. "He's not going to hate me, right?"

"No he'll love you! He is always talking about how young people these days don't appreciate the sciences. You'll be a saint compared to my last boyfriend."

Barry laughed, "And what was he like?"

"His name was Zach. We were seniors in high school and he cheated on me with his science tutor." Ingrid smiled, looking back on it, Zach was probably the worst boyfriend ever.

"That's rough." Barry raised his eyebrows, "I'm I actually your first boyfriend since you were 17?"

"I was adjusting to life with the avengers for a few months, was in SHIElD training for two years, and an Avenger for nearly one, no time for relationships. I have an excuse, what's your's?" Ingrid giggled.

"I'm going to get you for that!" Barry got up and started chasing Ingrid around the small space, his silver streak blending with his red one. This continued until the clock struck 5:57.

"We should go now." Ingrid panted, out of breath.

"So you accept defeat?" Barry gave her a devilish grin.

Ingrid growled, "We'll finish this later. Right now we've got a dinner to attend."

S

The dinner went fantastically, the food, drinks, and company were all great. Unlike others, Ingrid genuinely enjoyed hanging out with her coworkers, even more than her actual job. They were a few bites into dessert when Ingrid got a phone call.

"Who is it?" Cisco asked, mouth full of ice cream.

Ingrid frowned, "The Avengers." She excused herself from the table. "I need to take this."

Caitlin, Barry, and Cisco looked around at each other. "I'm sure it's nothing." Caitlin said, faking a smile as best as she could.

Ingrid stood outside and answered her phone, "Steve?"

" _Ingrid! It's so good to hear from you!"_ Steve replied. Ingrid's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't spoken to her best friend since she left for Central City.

"It's great to hear from you too, Steve and I really want to catch up but now isn't a great time. I'm out right now." Ingrid said softly.

 _"I get it, I really do, but this is really important."_ Ingrid sighed slightly. _"But I think it can wait until tomorrow. Just promise to call me as soon as you can!"_ Steve hung up the phone without saying goodbye. Ingrid shrugged it off and went back inside.

"Is everything ok?" Barry looked concerned. As she sat down beside him in the booth, he held onto her hand.

"That was the Cap. He said it was really important but I told him I was busy right now, I have to call him back in the morning."

"You blew off Captain America? For us? Ingrid Stark, never in my life have I felt so honoured." Cisco said with pride in his eyes.

The four friends finished up their dessert and ordered another round of drinks before they said their goodbyes. Caitlin and Cisco had apartments on the same block so they shared an Uber, Barry and Ingrid ran home.

Ingrid tried to relax when her and Barry cuddled up on the couch to watch TV, but Steve's mysterious phone call was stuck in her mind. What exactly was so important?

"You look stressed." Barry said into the top of her head.

"Honestly, I'm just really worried. Steve wouldn't say something was important unless it really was." She interlaced her fingers with Barry's.

"That's something to worry about in the morning." Barry adjusted himself so he could kiss Ingrid's neck. He picked up his girlfriend bridal style and carried her into their bedroom and shut the door quietly.

S

Ingrid awoke in her boyfriend's arms. She lightly traced patterns and circles onto his chest with her finger tip until he woke up. "Good morning, beautiful." he said lovingly as he pushed her messy brown hair out of her face.

"Good morning." Ingrid said back to him. They lay in bed together until Ingrid moved to get up and out of their tight embrace. "I need to call Steve."

"Right now? At least let me make you breakfast." Barry got up as well. Ingrid grabbed one of his shirts and pulled it on. She had a weak spot for his blueberry pancakes.

Ingrid pulled her cell phone off the charging cable and called Steve. _"Thank god you called, we were worried that you were avoiding us."_ The super soldier said as soon as he picked up.

"We?" Ingrid asked

 _"The rest of us, you know, the Avengers?"_ A chorus of "Hi Ingrid's" echoed through the speaker.

"Why are you all together? Has something happened?" Ingrid was worried.

 _"We have a mission. One that requires all of us, are you in?"_ Steve asked.

Ingrid laughed, "Do I have a choice?"

 _"Nope! We'll be at your apartment in a second!"_ Steve said with a chuckle.

Before she could protest, Steve hung up the phone. "Shit!" Ingrid yelled.

"What's wrong? Barry asked, squirting some whipped cream into his mouth.

"The Avengers, they're coming, right now!" Both Ingrid and Barry panicked. Ingrid hadn't told any of them about Barry and to top it all off, The apartment was a mess! Especially the bedroom, which was visible as soon as you walked into their home. Before any of them could do anything they heard a knock at the door. Ingrid answered it, completely forgetting that she was wearing nothing but underwear and her boyfriend's S.T.A.R. Lab t-shirt, also that Barry was in just his boxers. "Hey! Everyone!" Ingrid plastered a large fake smile on her face. Barry waved from behind her.

The Avengers stood at the threshold of the apartment. last time they saw Ingrid, she was an innocent nineteen year old who still preferred to sleep with a small nightlight. "It's so good to see you, Ingrid." Natasha pushed her way through the crowed of dumbstruck men and gave her a big hug. "Now, are those pancakes I smell?"

S

None of the Avengers except Natasha had said anymore than a word since they walked into Ingrid and Barry's apartment, not even Tony. He just sat there with the most exacerbated look he had ever made. They were all seated around the the dark oak dinner table with pancakes in front of them, they were being devoured by everyone except Bruce, Steve, and Tony. "So," Clint said, mid chew, "Are you going to introduce us to your boyfriend?"

Barry and Ingrid looked at each other, Ingrid looked panicked but Barry gave her a reassuring smile. "Um, this is Barry. We met at the Lab that I work in."

"So, Barry." Tony spoke for the first time. "Guessing by the fact that you aren't very freaked out over the fact that a Norse god is eating pancakes in your apartment, Ingrid told you about us?"

"Yes, Mr. Stark." He replied, still in his boxers.

"So you know all about her… Special talents?" Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

Pietro cut in with a laugh, "Judging by what they are wearing, I'm sure he knows all about her _special talents_." The Avengers gave him a look that could kill. "Sorry, not a good time I guess." He shrunk back in his chair and grabbed another mouthful of pancakes.

Ingrid rolled her eyes. "He knows about my powers if that's what you're wondering, dad."

"I thought we had a rule about not telling people about your abilities!" Tony said, obviously very pissed.

"Considering he understands my powers more than _any_ of you, I figured him and our two coworkers were an exception."

"What do you mean?" Bruce leaned forward to hear better.

Ingrid smirked, "Why don't we show you?"

Ingrid and Barry put on some clothes and got the Avengers to follow them to the Lab. Unfortunately for Cisco and Caitlin, it was Saturday and their day off, which meant Cisco wouldn't get to meet his heroes. "Ready?" Ingrid called.

"Sure, let's see what kind of party trick this kid can do." Tony said sarcastically.

Ingrid nodded towards her boyfriend who got into a running stance in the hallway. She then held up a radar gun to measure his speed. Barry started to run, the machine let up like crazy as he zoomed by in a streak of red light.

"Holy shit, man!" Pietro walked over to Barry. "I never thought I'd meet another speedster other than Ingrid!"

"You're fast too?" Barry asked excitedly. The pair sprinted over to where the rest of the Avengers stood, slack jawed.

"Barry can run so fast, he can pass through walls!" Ingrid said proudly as she gripped his arm. "He's been coaching me!"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Clint asked.

"He may be fast, but he's also my boyfriend. Judging by how most of you have been acting today, I should have kept him a secret."

Tony looked down at his expensive shoes. His daughter did have a point, he had been acting a bit rude today. "I'm sorry, ok? It's just that a father never wants to see his daughter half naked with a guy he's never met, with any guy for that matter!"

Ingrid gave a reluctant smile and hugged her dad. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Barry, but just last night we were talking about you coming down for a visit. I wasn't going to keep you in the dark forever, I just needed some space after Sokovia."

"Speaking of Sokovia, I think it's time that we told you why we are here." Steve spoke up, still not looking Ingrid in the eye. I guess the whole "half naked" thing had temporarily scarred him.

"That's right, the team needs to reassemble." Thor placed a large hand on Ingrid's shoulder. "Loki has returned."


	10. I Need Your Help!

Ok, so I'm a terrible human bean because when I write i just make up the story as it happens and right now I'm a little bit stuck. I have a vague idea of what is happening next but I am having an issue with a very crucial plot point: Loki.

I need a reason for him coming to Earth that isn't evil. The idea I had was that the evil Loki we all know and love isn't actually Loki (sort of). What if ever since that time Thor, Loki, and all their friends went to battle the frost giants, Loki had been under their control somehow? Maybe they just found a way to put evil thoughts in his head somehow, idk. Anyways, Loki is back to his normal self because the very last frost giant has died which released him from his curse and Thor brought him down to Earth to become an Avenger or something.

I feel like it's a bad and not very plausible plot line so if any of you wonderful people had a suggestion, please either private message me or leave it in the reviews! Thank you so much and please forgive me for bothering you all!


	11. Chapter 9

**A/N- Thanks to everyone who submitted ideas for this chapter! It was a very difficult decision because they were all good, but I had to choose HeroPilot's idea! Thank you so much!**

What do you mean? I thought he was rotting in Asgardian prison?" Ingrid exclaimed. "We need to neutralize this threat immediately!"

"No! It's not what you think, his intentions aren't hostile " Wanda grabbed Ingrid's hand quickly.

"Loki? Not hostile? Please, I may have never met him face to face but I've read enough of the incident reports Steve has in his room to know that he has ulterior motives." Ingrid scoffed.

"Ingrid, I swear on my life that Loki isn't a threat. I should know, I brought him here." Thor said to Ingrid.

"Why would you do that?" Ingrid looked very displeased.

"It's because of me." Wanda said, "I've been using my powers more and more in training and missions. He can sense my power and insists on investigating what exactly caused them.

"Well if you have everything under control, why do you need me?" Ingrid asked.

"This is Loki we're talking about. If the public knew that he was here and not being watched 24/7 by as many people as there could be, there would be a riot."

"I guess that's fair, but what about after he is done his little investigation? Is he going to move into the tower?" Ingrid asked sarcastically.

"Yes. That's exactly what is going to happen." Thor replied, oblivious to Ingrid's sarcasm.

S

Later that night, Ingrid left to go back to her and Barry's apartment. She immediately flopped down on the couch and sniffled into a pillow. Barry came and sat down beside her. "I know meeting the family didn't go perfectly, but you don't have to cry about it." Barry drew her into his arms.

Ingrid looked up at Barry, teary eyed. "For a smart person, you aren't that smart. I'm not upset about how it went, I'm upset about why they came. Don't you understand what this means, Barry? I'm going to have to leave Central City, without you."

Barry held back tears as well. "You don't have to leave, Ingrid. They can't force you to do this."

"I wish it were that easy, but they need all hands on deck." A tear ran down Ingrid's cheek. "It's the same reason why you can't come with me, this city needs you like my team needs me."

S

Ingrid and Barry fell asleep on the couch that night, wrapped up in each others arms. Barry awoke when he heard a knock on his door at about 9:00 the next morning. "The door's open." He said hoarsely. Steve opened the door silently and made his way over to the couch to Where Ingrid and Barry were. "She's still asleep." He croaked, playing with her hair.

"The car we are taking to the jet is waiting, you should wake her up now if you want to say goodbye." Steve said softly, eyes fixated on the sleeping girl.

"No, I-I think it would be best if you just took her. We both don't like goodbyes and." Ingrid stirred as he moved to allow Steve to pick her up.

"I'll take care of her for you." Steve gave Barry a polite nod and turned away.

"I think we both know her well enough to know that she can take care of herself." Barry smiled faintly.

S

Steve carried the sleeping Ingrid to the car where the rest of the Avengers were waiting. He passed her to Pietro who laid her down on the empty seats beside him.. "Does anyone else feel bad about this?" Clint asked the group

"I should," Tony said. "But I just don't. I haven't seen her in so long, I needed her to come home." The group looked at Tony in surprise. Rarely did they hear him speak without sarcasm.

"She's going to be mad when she wakes up." Bruce said quietly from the driver's seat. He had a knack for being able to read emotions.

"Yeah, if I knew someone who could make pancakes like that, I'd never want to leave." Pietro added.

After a few minutes of awkward silence later, Ingrid began to wake up. "Barry?" She asked, eyes still closed. "Do you want to take the day off work so we can hang out before my father comes to kidnap me?"

Everyone looked around with guilty looks on their faces. "I'm so sorry Ingrid…" Natasha spoke up. She reached over and held onto her hand.

Ingrid opened her eyes and groaned, "You couldn't have given me one more day to say goodbye?"

Wanda gave Ingrid a sad smile. "Don't worry, after this situation is under control I promise that you can return."

"I know, I just feel so bad about leaving Barry. He's going through a bit of a rough time right now and he needs to be around the people who love him." Ingrid sat up and sighed, her eyes holding a few tears.

"You love him?" Steve asked, looking her in the eye for the first time since their reunion. All heads turned to look at him.

"Yeah. I do." Ingrid said softly. Pietro gave her a comforting smile and held her hand. He was the big brother she never had.

Steve looked down at his feet and ran his hands through his hair. He then looked out the window. "We're here."

S

The Avengers boarded the jet. Agent Coulson was waiting for them in the control room. "Uncle Phil!" Ingrid yelled as she ran up to hug him. Ingrid met him while she was in SHIELD training, not knowing he was the agent Coulson who had faked his death. She found out when her father brought her to a memorial service for him, Ingrid confronted him the next day and he made her promise to keep his secret. He was like a second father to her.

"Ingrid!" He said returning the hug.

The Avengers stood behind them, mouths wide and in shock. "You haven't told them you aren't dead, have you?" Ingrid whispered into his ear in a disappointed tone.

"No, probably should have." He whispered back.

"Coulson?" Tony asked, his face contorted into an expression that could only be described as a mixture of happiness, rage, and confusion.

"You aren't dead." Mused Clint, "He's not dead." He spun around as he waved his arms at imaginary people. "He faked his own fucking death." Clint laughed.

Natasha didn't speak, she just walked up and gave him a hug.

"Who is this guy?" Pietro whispered to Wanda.

"You knew?" Bruce asked Ingrid.

"Yeah, I've know since the memorial service you brought me to. I saw him around SHIELD while I was still in training. He made me promise not to tell." Ingrid felt bad about not telling anyone Phil was alive, but she knew that the reason must have been important.

"Coulson…" Steve gave Phil a bear hug.

"It's good to see you all." Phil said as he smoothed the wrinkles out of his dress shirt. "Now your probably all wondering why I am here."

"I actually have a few question for you, but I guess we can start with that one." Tony still had the indescribable look on his face.

Phil sighed. "Look, Loki may be here for a good reason but that doesn't make him any less of a threat. I'm not going to get in anybody's way but I'm going to need a weekly report on what he's been up to. Natasha, can I put you in charge of that?"

"Of course, Phil." Ingrid could tell that the red head was trying to hold in happy tears. She never realized how much the Avengers looked up to Coulson until then.

S

You're sure you can't stay for at least a little bit? We have more than enough space." Ingrid said as everyone stepped out of car that transported them back to the tower.

"I'm afraid that I have business elsewhere, a fresh batch of recruits need training." Phil gave Ingrid a fatherly hug. "You'll have to come and visit headquarters, they'd love to meet an avenger level agent such as yourself."

"Since when are you an agent?" Tony asked.

"Umm, yeah. I helped out on a mission last year." Ingrid blushed, she hadn't been very good at keeping her father up to date on her life recently.

"You never cease to amaze me, Ms. Stark." Pietro flashed by and gave her a flirtatious wink.

Ingrid rolled her eyes and brought her luggage up to her room. Her door opened with a creak. It looked exactly the same since the day she left, except her bed. It had been made with military precision. _Steve._ Ingrid thought with a chuckle. She never made her bed and whenever he came into her room to hangout he did it for her. After awhile she just expected him to do it.

"Feel weird to be back?" Ingrid jumped at the voice. She turned around and saw Steve. He was leaned up against the door frame.

"Yeah. I feel a little homesick though."

Steve frowned. "But you are home."

"My home is in Central City." Ingrid pulled off her jacket. She was still wearing Barry's S.T.A.R. Labs t-shirt.

"Oh." Steve said, a little crushed. "Anyways, I'm here to bring you down to meet Loki." He offered her his hand, she pretended not to notice it.

 **A/N- This chapter is crap. I'm sorry. I've been really busy with school lately and I just have a lot going on that leaves me with very little time to write stuff. On a happier note, I love you all and don't forget to review! It means so much to see encouraging words from you all!**

 **Thanks! -Maddy**


	12. Chapter 10

The elevator ride down to Loki's cell was very awkward. Steve asked polite questions about Ingrid's job back in central city. She tried to explain it but it was a bit hard to describe advanced technological research to a ninety-something year old man.

"…So basically it's main function is to take molecules and, well, distort them." Ingrid did her best to explain her most recent invention, the molecular distorter.

"Hmmm." Steve looked like he was thinking about it but in reality didn't understand a thing she said. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. They were in the sub basement of the tower that was once Tony's non professional lab for all not worked related inventions. It had been converted into almost a hotel room, well, a hotel room that you were't allowed to leave. Ingrid and Steve went through three separate weapon detectors and had their Stark ID badges scanned twice by FRIDAY before they entered the comfortable room. Everything was white but it didn't look sterile. Loki sat in a plush chair at the other side of the room. He looked so deep in thought that Ingrid wondered if he even noticed her walk in.

"Captain Rogers, I've already told you, I am not here to take over the world," Loki said in his silver voice. His eyes were closed and his chin rested on the tips of his fingers.

"I'm not here to talk about that." Steve narrowed his eyes. He obviously hated the man before him. "I have someone here that you should meet."

Loki's emerald green eyes snapped open and darted towards Ingrid. "You must be Miss Stark." His mouth curled up into a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Loki got up from his seat and glided over to Ingrid. He reached out to shake her hand, she accepted it and used it as an opportunity to flip him over. he landed on his back with a thud. "That's for making my dad fly into a black hole" She said with a sneer.

Loki gracefully picked himself back up and dusted off his robes. "Well aren't you a feisty one." He looked very displeased with her actions.

"Look, I'm only here because I need to be. As soon as you leave I'm free to go back to my semi-normal life, so it would be greatly appreciated if you could just do what you came here for and leave." Ingrid narrowed her eyes.

"I can assure you my intentions are strictly to help." He was far too calm for Ingrid's liking. "Tomorrow I will begin, so I would be oh so very happy if you would leave and let me rest. I am quite weary from my trip."

"Fine." Ingrid and Steve said in unison. She didn't know what it was, but something about the demigod pushed her buttons.

S

By then it was time for dinner. Tony wanted to go out to the group's favourite Italian place, but Ingrid had other ideas.

"Dad, if you want to go out that badly then go. I'll be fine here." Ingrid crossed her arms and looked her father in the eye. He was trying to force her to join the rest of the Avengers.

"Ingrid, this is a team dinner. It's the first time that we've all been together since Sokovia and I think that's worthy of a nice night out." Tony's voice began to raise slightly.

"I've had one hell of a day and I think I deserve a little bit of leftover Chinese food and rest." Ingrid gave her father the death glare.

"It's like I don't even know you anymore! I never should have let you go to Central City!" Tony huffed.

"Well maybe, you shouldn't have come get me! Maybe, you should have let me stay in Central City where I was living as close to a normal life as I could!" Ingrid spun around on her heels and sped up to her room in a silver streak, stopping along the way to grab a box of Chinese food out of the fridge.

"Hey! That's mine!" Pietro yelled.

S

Once Ingrid reached her room, she unboxed the food and started to viciously stab at it with a fork to let out her frustrations. After eating it all she sighed and fell back onto the sleek couch in her room. She grabbed her laptop which was charging on the coffee table before her and FaceTimed Barry. She smiled when he accepted the call and his face filled the screen. _"Hey!"_ He said immediately.

"Hey to you too." Ingrid scanned the background of the room Barry was in, it looked like the lab.

 _"Caitlin! Cisco! Ingrid called!"_ Barry yelled out to his friends who almost instantly came into view.

 _"Ingrid Valencia Stark, next time Earth's mightiest heroes are in my lab, call me."_ Cisco tried to say menacingly but came off rather funny.

Ingrid giggled, "Definitely." She repositioned herself in a seated position. "So how are things at the lab?"

 _"Pretty much the same except in a complete wreck since you aren't here to keep the testosterone levels in check."_ Caitlin got really close to the camera and whispered, _"I really need a girls night."_

Ingrid laughed and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge by her. "Feel free to come up at any time and we'll hang out. That invite extends to all of you by the way, it's been less than twenty four hours and I already miss Central like crazy!"

 _"We already miss you like crazy."_ Barry said with a sad smile. _"Oh! I almost forgot, I'll move out of the apartment tomorrow."_

"What?" Ingrid gasped. "Barry you stay right there! I'm only here until this visitor we have staying with us leaves, then I'm coming right back to be with you, only if that's what you want though!"

 _"Of course it's what I want!"_ Barry laughed.

About an hour later, Ingrid said goodbye and disconnected from the video call. Tony had dragged the rest of the team to the Italian restaurant down the street so she had the entire tower to herself. Well, that's what she thought.

Ingrid left her room and made her way down to the gym. She put some chalk on her hands and began to work her way up the rock wall when she heard a voice, "Put your left foot on the green hold."

The european accent gave him away right away. "Why aren't you at dinner, Pietro?"

"I could ask you the same thing, but if you really must know, I really hate spaghetti." Ingrid wasn't sure if he was joking or not. It was hard to tell when it came to him. "I told them I was feeling sick so they let me stay here."

Ingrid jumped off the wall and landed in a crouching stance. "How've you and Wanda been doing?"

"Ok. America is very different from Sokovia." He ran a hand through his hair. "Barton was nice enough to let us stay with his family while the team took a break."

"I would hope so, you did save his life." Ingrid mused, wiping the sweat off her brow with a towel.

Pietro gave her a smile. "I found your dad's ice cream stash, want to go check it out?"

Ingrid smiled giddily. "You found it? I've been trying to find it forever!"

The two raced off and brought the ice cream upstairs to the theatre. Ingrid decided to introduce Pietro to all of her favourite movies, they started with The Goonies. A few pints of ice cream and bottles of beer later, it was nearing midnight and were halfway through Sharknado 2: The Second One.

"So this is good movie in America?" Pietro said between laughs.

"They're an acquired taste, much like this sweet potato ice cream, I have no idea what my dad was thinking when he bought this." Ingrid sat the pint down with a thud and picked up an unopened egg nog flavoured one.

"We have returned!" Thor's voiced boomed over the tower-wide intercom.

Ingrid got up in a flash. "Shit! Dad's going to kill us if he finds out we took his ice cream and booze!"

The two speedsters zoomed around the room, doing their best to get rid of any evidence that they had eaten in the theatre. They heard footsteps coming towards the door just as Ingrid had tossed the last plastic spoon in the trash. She quickly spun around and dove onto the couch, landing on Pietro in the process.

"Ouch!" He said, laughing slightly.

Much to their surprise, it wasn't Tony who was entering the room, it was Steve. He took one look at Ingrid sprawled out over Pietro and turned red. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked.

"No, not at all!" Ingrid laughed

"We were just watching a movie, you can join us if you want." Pietro said kindly.

Steve shifted uncomfortably, noticing Ingrid was now sitting casually in the blonde's lap. "I think I'll just go watch TV in my room." He mumbled as he left.

Ingrid frowned as he left. "He's been acting so weird lately." She sighed.

"He's been acting like that since you left. We got together as a team occasionally over the past year and he was very…" Pietro paused as he searched for the word. "Sullen, I guess."

"Strange." Ingrid hopped off of Pietro's lap and laid down on the couch, using his left thigh as a pillow. After finishing the movie and moving onto the third, they fell asleep.

S

Ingrid woke up at 10:00 the next morning. Pietro had left earlier to accompany Wanda to visit Loki. The first examination was today, Ingrid hoped they would be done soon. She couldn't help but be curious about Wanda's powers, there was obviously so much untapped potential.

She made her way down to the shared kitchen where a steaming cup of coffee with her name on it was waiting for her (literally, Clint made an extra cup for her every day and put he name of a sticky note so no one else would take it).

Ingrid liked her coffee black, any extra cream or sugar was too much for her. She strangely found comfort in the strong, bitter taste. She had just taken the first sip when a blood curdling scream caused her to drop the mug. She was out of the room before it hit the ground. She flashed her way down to Loki's cell. Once she got inside, her suspicions were confirmed. Wanda was hunched over a figure, sobs wracked through her body. Ingrid pushed past a dumbstruck Loki to see who it was. "Oh my god! Pietro!" She gasped.

 **A/N- Ok, I hope you all are very proud of me because I actually sat down and planned out the story! If you could take one minute out of your day to leave a review it would be very much appreciated!**


	13. Chapter 11

Ingrid rushed over to Pietro and checked his pulse. Much to her relief, she felt a steady beat. "What happened?" She asked Wanda and Loki.

"I-I was standing right here and Loki did something that made me do something that caused Pietro to do this." Wanda babbled in-between sobs.

"I was testing her cerebral reflexes and accidentally triggered her somehow. She hit him with her powers by mistake." Loki looked shocked and in awe, but he obviously didn't care about Pietro.

By then, Bruce, Tony, Thor, Steve, and Natasha had made their way down to the cell. "Bruce, come upstairs to the lab with me." Ingrid picked up Pietro with all her strength as she spoke and sped upstairs. Bruce followed without hesitating.

Once she reached the lab, she cleared a table covered in pieces of machinery with a swipe of her hand and she Pietro down on it. "Pietro! Pietro!" Ingrid shook his shoulder, trying to bring him back to consciousness. By then Bruce had entered the lab, he sprinted over to him and stuck a syringe in his right thigh

"I'm giving him a shot of adrenaline, hopefully this will wake him up." He said through gritted teeth.

Ingrid seen plenty of people in near death situations during her time as an Avenger, but it was always at her own hand. Nothing she had been taught in SHIELD training had prepared her for seeing the man who was basically her brother, start to convulse on a stainless steel table.

After a few violent spasms, Pietro's eyes shot open and he gasped for breath. "I-I did not see that coming." He said between bated breaths.

Ingrid didn't realize she was crying until she started to laugh. "I thought I lost you!" She held his face between her hands.

"Pietro, what happened down there?" Bruce asked.

"I don't really know, Wanda did something back there that I've never seen her do before." He sat himself up and winced in pain.

Suddenly the lights began to flicker until they went out completely and the red lights of the backup generator turned on.

"What the hell?" Natasha stormed into the lab

"Wanda blew a fuse." Tony peeked his head in. "I think her little trick back there affected our power source."

"Shit!" Ingrid slammed her fist on the table, causing everyone to jump. She quickly excited the room and started to make her way down to Loki's cell.

"Where are going, Ingrid?" Clint asked, trailing behind her.

"I'm guessing you didn't have time to wire the access codes to the stabilizers in Loki's cell into the main frames, correct?"

"Yeah, but it's perfectly safe unless we loose… _shit!_ " The archer pulled out his bow and followed her into the elevator.

They entered the cell just as Loki began to glow in a multitude of colours. "Thank you for your lovely hospitality, but I really must go back to see Thanos. I have no interest being near anyone with powers as unstable as that witch." He said as he disappeared in a flash of light.

Ingrid sunk to her knees and rested in a seated position. Clint crouched down beside her and pulled her into a protective hug. "What do we do now?" She whispered. Loki had escaped because he was afraid of Wanda, what did he know about her powers that they didn't?

"Hope for the best?" He replied meekly.

S

Due to his fast metabolism, Pietro was on his feet and out of the lab that night. He had been trying to convince Wanda that he was fine and it wasn't her fault what had happened. "I'm telling you Wanda, I'm fine! Now would you please come out of your room?" Pietro stood outside Wanda's locked door.

"No." Wanda replied.

Pietro sighed and told Wanda he was getting a snack. He made his way down to the kitchen to find Natasha comforting a crying Ingrid. The red head had pulled Ingrid into a motherly hug.

"What happened, printessa?" Pietro flashed over and knelt before Ingrid.

"B-Barry called m-me a few minutes ago t-to t-tell me he wanted to b-break u-up." She said while trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Why?" Pietro moved into a ready stance. He looked like he was about to run to Central City and kill Barry.

Ingrid took a deep breath and calmed her breathing. "He said it's gotten dangerous in Central City. He doesn't want me to worry about him and said that if something happened to him, he wouldn't want me to be stuck on him and not move on. He said it would be easier this way."

"I'm so sorry." Pietro joined the group hug. They stayed like this for sometime. Ingrid eventually fell asleep and just as Natasha had started to pick her up, Steve walked in.

"I'll take her, I'm headed up to my room anyway." He said. Natasha gave him a soft nod and handed her over to him.

Steve tucked Ingrid into her bed. "Why am I always carrying you too bed?" He mused a little too loudly.

Ingrid stirred. "Maybe because you just want to see me in bed." She said, still half asleep.

Steve chuckled. "Even half asleep you're still sarcastic." He mumbled as he turned out the lamp on her bedside table.

S

Ingrid didn't leave her room the next day. She didn't feel motivated to do anything, Barry was her first serious boyfriend and he broke her heart. At around 11:00 that morning, Tony came in with a mountainous pile of junk food which they ate as they watched a bunch of Nicholas Cage movies. They were halfway through The Rock when Wanda knocked on the door. "Came I come in?" She asked softly.

"It's open." Ingrid replied.

Wanda opened the door quietly and slipped in. "The others are worried about you." She said, putting a small hand on Ingrid's shoulder.

"I'll be ok." Ingrid said at a barely audible tone. "I just got an email from my old landlord. She said Barry gave her the final payment and moved out this morning.

"Have you heard anything from your coworkers back at the lab?" Tony asked.

Ingrid shook her head. "I also tried to log into my STAR Labs email account, only to see that it had been terminated." Ingrid buried her head in her knees. "I don't understand! I'm an Avenger for gods sake, I could be there helping him. We could all be there helping him."

"He cares too much for you. I don't know him that well but I can tell that he's stubborn. As much as I hate to say this, You're going to need to move on." Wanda said in a comforting voice.

"And as much as I hate to say this, you'll need to do that soon. If you're going to stay here, you need to keep up with your training. I'll book the gym for you and the twins for tomorrow." Tony gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead and left the room with Wanda to give Ingrid some alone time.

The final scene of The Rock was now playing. Once it was over she got up and put Kick Ass into the DVD player. When it started she couldn't help but smile, the main character, Dave looked a lot like a younger Pietro. She had just opened a bag of Twizzlers when another knock sounded at her door. "Ingrid, it's me." She recognized the voice immediately, Steve. "Can I come in?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said sullenly.

Steve gingerly walked over to the couch. His eyes widened at the massive amount of candy and chocolate in front of him. "Need any help finishing it off?" He motioned towards the food.

"Help yourself." Ingrid replied, mustering up a smile and motioning him to sit down. She looked him in the eyes, they looked sad. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"A lot." He chuckled as he sat down on the couch. He made himself at home right away by putting his feet up on the table and resting the back of his head on his hands. "Sam said that he found what might be the best lead we've had yet on Bucky, but I'm scared that if I do find him, he won't be, well, _Bucky"_ He sighed.

"I think the Bucky you knew disappeared the day he left for the war." Ingrid turned her body so she could see her friend better as they spoke.

"I guess you're right." Steve mused. "But I can't even imagine how you're feeling right now."

"I'm doing ok. I guess if Barry really cared about me he'd ask for our help in Central City instead of just shutting me out." Ingrid said quietly.

"I bet he's miserable. I felt so lost when you moved away." Steve cupped Ingrid's cheek in the palm of his hand.

"I'm sorr-" Steve's lips crashed into Ingrid's before she could finish her sentence. They moved in harmony. Never had either of them been kissed with such wanting and passion.

"I've wanted to do that from the moment I met you." Steve said when they finally pulled away from each other.

"So have I." Ingrid replied. "I just didn't know it at the time."

"So, uh, do you want to go on a date sometime?" Steve asked.

Ingrid nodded enthusiastically before pulling him into another kiss. Suddenly, all that was worrying Ingrid had slipped away. All that mattered was her and Steve.


	14. Chapter 12

Ingrid and Steve decided that it was best to keep their relationship a secret. SHIELD had a strict policy when it came to intimate relationships between employees. The only reason Bruce and Natasha get away with their flirting is that Natasha scares Fury a bit. He would never admit it, but he definitely didn't want to get on her bad side. Ingrid and Steve still interacted like they normally would on a daily basis, but all romance was held off until they were off duty for the day.

Steve walked cautiously down the hall to the theatre. It was 2:00 AM which meant that no one would be in it, except Ingrid of course. He opened the door slowly. "Ingrid?" He whispered into the darkness.

"On your left!" She giggled, jumping out of the darkness and playfully hitting him on the side of his head.

"Ow!" He said in a mocking tone. The two then flopped onto the large couch and talked about their day. Of course they knew what happened from a professional point of view, but it was nice to let their guards down and talk.

"How are things going with Operation: Red Star?" Ingrid asked, her head rested in the crook of Steve's neck and her hand lay on his left pectoral.

Steve shrugged. Operation: Red Star was the code name for the search for Bucky. Steve, Sam, and Natasha had been following up on leads in their spare time and they were closer than ever, which made Steve more hesitant to search. He was worried about the state Bucky would be in. "I'm just…" Steve searched for the word he was looking for, "… Concerned." He decided upon.

Ingrid nodded. She couldn't even fathom the hells that Steve had been through, but she knew a few things about what it's like to worry for your family and it was obvious that Bucky was more of a brother than a friend.

"When can we tell the others?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Tell the others about what?" Steve murmured into Ingrid's hair.

Ingrid playfully slapped him with a pillow that she seemed to produce out of thin air. "You know damn well what I mean!" She said with an amused look. "As much as I like this whole Romeo and Juliet style of dating, I must remind you that they died in the end. I don't want to keep lying to everybody." Ingrid looked at Steve with her big silver eyes. "I thought Captain America couldn't tell a lie."

Steve rolled his eyes with a smirk. "First of all, That's Abe Lincoln and second of all, the team is busy getting the whole Wanda situation sorted out. Don't tell me you haven't noticed how sporadic her powers have been lately. I doubt that dropping a bomb like this on them during a stressful time is a good idea." He said softly, "Trust me, I want to tell them just as much as you do, but you know that SHIELD would frown upon this and it's not really great timing."

Ingrid smiled. "This is why you're the strategist and I'm not." She curled up against Steve and yawned, "I might just crash here for the night." She said sleepily.

Steve nodded, "Ok, I have to leave soon so I'll say goodbye now."

"I hate it when you have solo missions, Mr. Level 8 Clearance." Ingrid complained. She gave Steve a kiss on the cheek and settled herself into the pile of pillows and blankets on the couch.

Steve smiled as Ingrid fell asleep. He was leaving for a mission the next day which is why they decided to meet for longer that night. It was a solo mission that Ingrid had been begging him not to go on but he had to accept it or a lot of people would die. A SHIELD spy picked up some intel that a large scale HYDRA attack would take place on the Parliament Building in Greece. "Goodnight, I'll see you in a week." He whispered into her ear and left to go pack.

S

When Ingrid awoke the next day she immediately got to work as to distract herself from thinking about Steve's mission, which didn't help much considering she used Steve as a distraction from Barry, who she couldn't hep thinking about as she worked. Steve wasn't a rebound for Ingrid, they both felt really strong emotions for each other but both of them knew what it's like to love someone they can't be with.

"You alright, Grid?" Tony asked, looking up from his new invention that he was working on in his lab. "You've been acting a bit sad today."

Ingrid smiled at his use of his nickname for her. They had been trying to repair their relationship and that was the first time he used her childhood nickname since she got back. It made her feel nostalgic. "Yeah, just a little worried about Steve, he's my best friend and his mission sounds dangerous."

"Don't worry about ole' Capsicle, if anything you grandfather told me about him is true, he's been through far worse." He wiped his grease stained hands with an old rag.

"You're right, I'm being paranoid." Ingrid shook her head. "How's that thing you're working on for Wanda going?" Ingrid asked, changing the subject.

"Done!" Tony proudly held up what looked like a metal headband. "I call it, The Matrix!" He said excitedly.

"The Matrix? Dad, we aren't trying to control her mind, we are helping her control her own mind therefore giving her easier control over her developing cerebral powers." Ingrid said matter-o-factly.

"I know but The Matrix sounds a lot cooler than the Cerebral Stabilizer." Tony shrugged and Ingrid let out a small chuckle.

"You and Cisco would either be best friends or worst enemies. He had a thing for naming stuff." Ingrid smiled sadly.

"I'm going to stop you right there because I am dubbing this building a Central free zone." Tony put his hand up to silence his daughter.

Ingrid laughed and went back to focusing on one of her dad's old suits. It was wrecked beyond salvation so she was doing her best to find as many recyclable parts as possible for it's replacement. "You better give that thing to Wanda soon, she hasn't been at training for awhile and I'd hate for her to fall any further behind." Ingrid said thoughtfully as she grabbed a wrench from the table beside her.

Tony nodded. "Don't worry, I'll give it to her when she gets back from lunch. I think her and Pietro went to that new gourmet sandwich place next door." Tony said, wiping the grease off his hands one last time. "Speaking of lunch, I'm going to get some of that leftover soup that Banner made. Want some?"

"That'd be great, I'll meet you in the kitchen in a second." Ingrid called out cheerfully. She then cleared off her work bench and wiped it down before join her father in the large kitchen. She had just sat down on one of the stools beside her dad when Wanda and Pietro came through the door.

"Hello, Stark family." Pietro said as he chewed on his sandwich gleefully.

"Hello, Maximoff family." Ingrid said back as she stirred her chicken noodle soup.

"Wanda! Before I forget, I finished that thing we were talking about." Tony proudly produced the Cerebral Stabilizer out from behind his back.

"Thank you so much! I haven't used my powers since the incident, I have no idea how you all _live_ without being able to read minds!" Wanda said, lustfully looking at the futuristic looking headband. Tony handed it to her with a smile and she put it on right away.

"Ok, lets do a simple test," Tony said. "What is Ingrid thinking about right now?"

Ingrid rolled her eyes and focused her thoughts on her soup. She could almost feel Wanda staring into her mind when suddenly her phone buzzed with a text, it was Steve. Suddenly Ingrid could feel Wanda peering into all of her memories that involved Steve. She gulped with dread.

When Wanda finished she looked Ingrid dead straight in the eyes. The look she gave bore holes into Ingrid soul to the point that she felt inclined to look away when finally the serious gaze lifted. "When were you going to tell me?" She squealed in delight.

Ingrid's face turned a bright shade of red. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She mumbled.

"Tell her about what? Ingrid have you been keeping secrets from me?" Tony inquired, he looked worried.

The three faces loomed over Ingrid. "Ok, we decided that we weren't going to tell you until we were both present and Wanda's… Situation was sorted out but I guess i have no choice." Ingrid Sighed. "You might as well call the others in here."

Wanda skipped over to the intercom and sent a message across the tower asking the team to meet in the kitchen. Once they all entered they joined the crowed around Ingrid. "Is something wrong?" Natasha asked.

"No, it's just that I have a little announcement that I am being forced to make." Ingrid said as she shot an annoyed glare at Wanda, who smiled sheepishly. "Steve and I…" She paused to take a deep breath. "Are dating!" She quickly before jumping out of her seat and sprinting up to her room in a flash of silver.


	15. Sorry!

Sorry that I haven't been updating for awhile, I've been pretty busy with school lately but I promise to have a new chapter up by Sunday. Thanks for the continued support and don't forget that my plan for this story is pretty flexible so if you have an idea of what you want to see happen, you can leave a review and I'll take it into consideration!

~Maddy


	16. Chapter 13

The team looked around the room at each other . Tony was furious, Natasha shrugged (she had been suspicious of them for awhile), Bruce looked confused, Wanda was lit up with a smile, Pietro furrowed his brow, Thor smirked, and Clint was shocked. "Well," Pietro broke the silence, "You learn something new everyday."

"Come on, Pietro, let's go see Ingrid." Wanda gleefully dragged her brother over to the elevator.

The twins found Ingrid up in her bedroom pacing. Her best of David Bowie album was spinning on the record player and blaring 'Suffragette City'. She stopped her pacing and turned down the volume when she saw Wanda and Pietro walk in. "How did they react?" Ingrid asked shyly.

Pietro walked over and pulled Ingrid into a friendly hug. "I think you caught them a bit off guard."

Wanda then walked over and joined them in the hug. "Don't worry, most of them are supportive."

"Who isn't?" Ingrid furrowed her brow and pulled away from their hug.

"Well, your dad obviously disapproves and Bruce seems to be worried that this will affect how you make judgements in the field." Wanda gave her a half smile.

"But don't worry, printessa," Pietro said, slinging his arm around Ingrid's shoulder. "We're here for you."

Ingrid gave a hopeful smile and walked over to the vintage record player and replaced the David Bowie album with Marvin Gaye, the familiar opening chords of Ain't No Mountain High Enough started to play. "Steve's going to be pissed. I wanted to tell everyone but he thought that they would disapprove, I guess he gets to say 'I told you so'. "

"Just give them some time. They'll come around, I'm sure of it." Wanda said confidently.

"I hope so, I just want Steve to come back soon." Ingrid sighed as she flopped down onto her bed.

"He'll be back before you know it." Wanda sat down on the bed beside Ingrid.

"Exactly! Now, if we're done with the sappy stuff I thought that we should go out tonight! Dancing, check out some bars?" Pietro said excitedly.

Wanda and Ingrid shot each other glances. "I'm down if you are." Ingrid said. Wanda smiled in response. They then rushed back to their rooms to change into more appropriate clothes for the occasion, aka, something that wasn't athletic gear which was all they seemed to wear at the tower.

They met up in the lobby, Pietro wore a blue button down and jeans, Wanda wore a red sundress, and had Ingrid a sleek all black outfit with her silver oxfords. "Ready?" Pietro asked, linking arms with his friend and sister.

They ended up going to a nice bar a couple blocks over called Eternia. It was different from most places nearby. Eternia was classy and modern but still fun. After a couple rounds of shots and a few fancy drinks they decided it was time to head home. The group was a giggling mess in the cab ride back and the laughing didn't stop until they made it upstairs. They reached the common area and found the rest of the Avengers in chaos. Tony and Bruce poured over the files and blueprints that were scattered across all the tables and counters, Natasha spoke fiercely into her com while typing on her computer, and Clint and Thor rushed around the room, picking up files and giving it to the others.

"What happened?" Ingrid asked. The dread she felt in the pit of her stomach sobered her up a bit.

Clint looked up from the file he was reading off to Natasha and set it down. He jogged quickly over to the group and bit his lip nervously. "Before I say anything, I want you to know that it's going to be ok." Clint said seriously.

"Every time you say that, things usually don't turn out ok." Ingrid felt panicky. It was hard to believe that only a few minutes ago she had been enjoying a nice night out with her friends.

Clint took a deep breath and looked Ingrid in the eyes. "It's Steve, his mission went south and he got captured."

Ingrid's silver eyes welled up with tears. "No." She said, slowly backing away, "This isn't happening." He breathing quickened and her thoughts blurred. Pietro caught her as she stumbled.

"Printessa, are you ok?" Pietro asked with a concerned look, noticing the pace of her breaths

"I'm fine." Ingrid said as she collapsed into his arms.

"She's having a panic attack!" Wanda yelled over to the rest of the Avengers.

"Shit, she hasn't had one in years." Tony grabbed Ingrid and carried her bridal style into the lab and set her down onto one of the tables.

Bruce rushed over and quickly looked her over before checking the heart rate monitor on her watch. "It's going down, she'll be fine." He said as he propped her up on a pillow made from a spare lab coat he balled up.

"We need to find Steve." Wanda said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"We'll find him," Thor said, placing his large hand on Wanda's small shoulder. "We have to."

A/N This chapter is so short and not that great and for that I apologize. After how long I made you wait for this you all deserve another 10 chapters but sadly I've had huge writer's block and so much school work to do! I have a few weeks off in a few days so hopefully I can get some more of this written. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!


	17. New Story! Sneak Peak

This is just a heads up about a new story I will be publishing soon! I realize that I never tied up what happened when the team went to try and find Bucky at the beginning of Striker, so I thought it would be great to make a spinoff starring none other than the Winter Soldier himself! I'm also adding in an original that I'm excited about because their relationship is pretty unique compared to some other (great) fanfictions that I've read on this site.

Now, as my attempt to make up for my lack of updating lately (school's a bitch), here is a small taste of what's to come in: Project: Renée

Bucky sprinted down the halls of Hydra's laboratory and experimentation headquarters. He hadn't been back since they brainwashed him before his battle with Steve, but this time he had returned with a purpose, too find those who did this to him and make them pay. After going to the museum and seeing the exhibit about the Howling Commandos, he realized just how much they had taken from him.

As Bucky did his best to out run the countless guards who were pursuing him, he found himself running through a set of doors that led to a corridor he had never been through before. He stopped to catch his breath when he heard the guards run past the door, thinking he was continuing that way. The hallway was dimly lit, Bucky walked slowly past the empty cells that lined the wall "I thought I was the only one they screwed up." He mumbled to himself. His metal arm made clanking noises that echoed off the walls.

"Hello?" Came a small voice from a few cells down.

Bucky grabbed the handgun that was tucked into his belt. "Who's there?" He asked loudly.

"Don't hurt me, please." The voice pleaded, Bucky continued to make his way towards the voice with his gun outstretched.

Eventually the sounds of a young girl softly crying became louder, Bucky reached the cell an peered in cautiously. A girl, no older than 15 was huddled in the corner of the cell. He eyes were wild with fear and a few tears streaked down her face, they stared at each other in silence for what seemed like eternity until Bucky spoke up. "Who are you?" He asked.

The girl was silent until she noticed his metal arm and the red star on it, she pushed her bangs out of her eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm the next you." She said shakily.


	18. Chapter 14

When Ingrid woke up she tried to convince herself that the events of last night were just a dream, but reality set in soon. She looked to her left and saw her dad snoozing quietly in a chair beside her. Ingrid then looked to her right and saw a plate full of breakfast, a cup of coffee probably made by Clint, one of Bruce's famous croissants, and a stack of blueberry pancakes. Ingrid scrunched her nose, they were just pancakes but she only knew one person who made them.

Ingrid rolled over so she was facing Tony again. "Dad?" She croaked out, her throat felt raw.

Tony awoke when Ingrid spoke. "Glad to see you awake, Grid." He said softly, he reached out and stroked her hair.

Ingrid forced a smile and held onto her dad's hand. "Who made those pancakes?" She asked.

Tony's smile faltered. "I'm sorry, Grid. We're one man short and to get Steve back we're going to need as much help as possible."

Ingrid groaned, "Please don't tell me you asked _him_ of all people to help?" Tony gave a sheepish smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"You have to be kidding me." Ingrid sat up, feeling her strength coming back. "I could have gotten you anybody! I've teamed up with Antman, the Arrow and I used to get brunch all the time, and let's not forget that Deadpool owes me a damn big favour." She said harshly.

"How do you even know all these people?" Tony asked, surprised with the connections his daughter had.

"I thought you had realized by now that I did more than just work at STAR Labs during the time off? I mean, the first thing I did after Sokovia was help Spiderman out with a local crime ring and before we moved to the Malibu home I was assisting Daredevil with a major drug bust-" Tony cut her off before she could finish.

"I get it, we should have waited until you woke up, but Team Flash was the first people we could think of." Tony rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. "I'm sorry, Grid."

Suddenly, a streak of red and a gust of wind whirled into the lab, sending papers flying everywhere. "Ingrid!" Barry practically yelled as he rushed over beside her and kissed her cheek.

"Hey, Barry." Mumbled Ingrid as she hopped off the examination table, not wanting to speak with him. Someone had changed her clothes sometime throughout the night to a pair of back workout shorts and a large grey shirt belonging to Steve. Her bare feet padded across the cool floor and into the common area. Pietro and Wanda were the first to see her and immediately set down the reports they were looking at and rushed over to her, engulfing her in a hug.

"I was so worried about you." Pietro muttered into Ingrid's hair.

"Please don't scare us like that." Wanda choked back tears.

"It's ok, I'm fine." Ingrid tightened her grip before letting go from the hug. "Now, tell me where Steve is."

"I can help you with that." Came an apologetic sounding voice from behind Ingrid. She turned around and saw Caitlin and Cisco looking at her with two of the most desperate looking faces she had ever seen. She couldn't help but run over and hug them.

"I've missed you both, so much." Ingrid felt her eyes water with tears.

"We are so, so, so sorry." Cisco said, pulling out of the hug and handing her a file. "STAR Labs has fallen into chaos since you left."

"Barry hasn't been the same either. He took a week off from work after you broke up, and you know how much he loves his job." Caitlin sniffled and wiped her eyes.

Natasha came up from behind them and spoke. "You can catch up later, right now we have a job to do." Cisco looked like he was going to pass out from excitement.

S

Steve woke up in a dark room chained to a metal chair, dried blood matted his hair and his once white shirt was covered in red and brown stains.

"Finally, you're awake." Said a voice in the darkness.

"Who are you and what do you want from me?" Steve asked with ragged breaths.

A figure stepped out of the darkness, it was Rumlov. Burns covered his entire body, the small amount of light in the room cast ghostly shadows on his face. "Well, Steve, Hydra has a small problem and you are the one person who can fix it." Rumlov paced around the room. "As you probably remember, last time we saw each other you caused our best assassin to get away, which means we are in great need of a new Winter Soldier. To do that, we need that special serum of yours and since we're all out, your blood will have to substitute.

"Go to hell." Steve spat blood in Rumlov's direction.

"Already have." Rumlov replied with a sneer. "I'll be back soon to get that blood sample of yours once we have our test subject ready." He said as he exited the room, closing the heavy metal door behind him.

S

Everyone was still in chaos back at the tower, Cisco had been following Natasha around like a lost puppy and the arrival of Sam only added to the panic. "Thanks for coming, Sam." Ingrid gave the Falcon a hug.

"For you and Steve? Anything." Sam said, pulling on his wing pack. Everyone had to be ready to leave at any moment.

Eventually the noise and confusion became too much for Ingrid to handle so she slipped out of the room quietly to change into her gear and head to the gym. Tony had recently made adjustments on her suit, it looked too similar to Natasha's out on the field so together they redesigned it with a silver reflective trim that started at the bottom and ended at the underside of her wrists, they also designed matching belt for her weapons. After changing, Ingrid grabbed her bow and did some target practice. Usually she only used it when Clint wanted company during training but recently she had taken up more interest in it. She had just shot her second arrow when she felt someone watching her.

"What do you want, Barry?" Ingrid asked without taking her gaze off the target. She shot her arrow and silently celebrated as it landed right on the bullseye.

"Oliver better watch out, looks like there's a new Arrow in town." Barry joked. Ingrid couldn't help but let out a smile, but she wouldn't let him see that. "Look, Ingrid," His voice was much more serious. "I'm sorry, about everything. It was stupid of me to let you go."

"You got that right." Ingrid turned around to face him.

"I regret everything," Barry said while taking a few steps towards Ingrid. "I miss you." He said, inches from her face.

Ingrid turned away hastily and crossed her arms. "You should have thought of that before." Ingrid looked behind her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm being a jerk."

"It's ok, I kind of deserve it." The joking tone returned to his voice. "Friends?" He asked, reaching out for a handshake.

Ingrid accepted his hand with a warm smile. "Friends." She replied.

"Sorry to ruin your moment, kids, but your tech guy found Steve." Natasha said, gesturing to Cisco who was still firmly planted by her side.

Ingrid looked at the two with newfound fierceness in her eyes. "Then lets go get him."


End file.
